The  projections of warming temperatures, melting ice and sea level rise made by climate models can be a little abstract and hard to imagine. But a new Google Earth feature provides two new animations that can help visualize the effects of global warming over the next century.

One animation shows how world temperatures will change over the next hundred years, assuming a mid-range increase in greenhouse gas emissions, with projections from the United Kingdom’s Met Office Hadley Centre. The other shows the retreat of Antarctic ice caps since the 1950s, courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey.

The tool also links to stories of how people are already being affected by changing weather patterns, especially in poor countries, and provides information on ways to take action.

Hopefully people can see just what kind of impact climate change could have if we don’t take more notice and make a few changes.

While poking around Google Earth’s Outreach Web site, I also spotted a couple of other interesting tools, such as one that shows Earth’s disappearing forests.