Climate (Civ6)

Back to Civilization VI
Go to the Disasters article

Climate is a new gameplay mechanic which introduces major changes in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. It represents a major development in the series where Climate change and the ways players contribute to it will radically alter the later stages of the game.

Introduction

In previous Civilization games climate was represented implicitly in the different 'biomes' (that is, the combination of terrain and terrain features) in the world. For example, Plains and Grassland would represent a temperate or tropical climate, while Tundra and Snow would represent polar climate. Desert and features like the Oasis would represent dry climate. Vegetation (forests and jungles) would also contribute to the climate representation - for example, jungles are only found in warmer and more humid parts of the world, while forests are found in more temperate and colder parts. This implicit representation finds its ultimate demonstration in the rainforest belts in Civilization VI, emulating real-world extra-warm and humid climates which prevail in the equatorial parts of the world.

Gathering Storm, however, ups the ante and introduces a revolutionary new system in which climate is represented explicitly, as well as implicitly! This is done in two main ways: by creating special disasters which are linked to particular biomes (for example, Blizzards only occur in the colder parts of the world, while Tornadoes occur only in the warm and temperate parts), and by introducing the Climate change system, where players are able to affect the rate of disasters and the melting of the polar caps. The latter may affect radically the later stages of the game and hamper or even cripple entire civilizations!

Mechanics of climate and the climate change

Throughout two thirds of the game (until the Modern Era or so) Climate will only be felt through the disasters occurring in the world. The base rate of these doesn't actually depend on climate itself - it is set for each game at its start by the players themselves. Nevertheless, climate is the main condition controlling the rate of most disasters in the game, just like in real life, and when the climate starts to change due to human (player) activity in the later stages of the game, this will be felt by the increased rate of disasters!

The main factor contributing to climate change is CO2 levels, which are produced mostly by industry, and more specifically by power generation. As CO2 levels increase, the planet starts warming up and the climate patterns start to become increasingly unstable; this leads to a general increase in disaster occurrences' chance. Also, there is a greater chance the disasters will be of the most destructive strength (level 5 Hurricane, 1000 years flood, etc).

The second effect of climate change is more subtle, but potentially much more destructive and permanent than disasters. This is the second type of flooding: coastal flooding, which may submerge the coastal land tiles throughout the world! And this is how it goes:

• As the general temperature increases due to elevated CO2 levels, the Polar ice starts to melt (Ice tiles will disappear and be replaced by Ocean tiles);
• Coastal lowland tiles will now get threatened by coastal flooding. Each coastal tile has a rating of 1-3, which shows how soon it will get affected by flooding: tiles with a rating of 1 are the lowest ones and will get hit first, while those with a rating of 3 will be affected last.
• As Climate change progresses, each several turns a random selection of land tiles of the appropriate rating will be affected by flooding.
• Affected tiles will get flooded as the sea level rises. When the sea level rises by the amount equal to tiles' Coastal ratings; those tiles will be flooded and pillaged (along with whatever happens to be on them, including whole districts with all their buildings). These tiles can still be repaired, but only after the City that owns them builds the Flood Barrier. Once the sea level rises above the tiles' Coastal ratings, those tiles will be permanently submerged together with improvements and districts on them, and never recoverable! However, the City Center cannot be submerged.

Of course, such disasters will severely limit the use of coasts, especially the flatland-coasts so loved by Cultural Victory seekers! You will have to think twice before placing your districts and important improvements on the coastal lowlands; island settling will be particularly dangerous.

Unfortunately, the main factor in climate change - the rise in CO2 levels - is tracked worldwide, meaning that all remaining players contribute to it simultaneously. Even if one conscientious player decides to limit his/her CO2 emissions, another one may decide to recklessly burn fossil fuels and push the temperature rise. The only way the first player may affect this (short of destroying the second player) is by pursuing Climate accords in the World Congress.

Climate change will progress through seven different phases of severity as increasing numbers of climate change points are earned, affecting the world as shown in the table below.

Phase	Points	Sea Level Rise	Coastal Lowland	Polar Ice Melt
I	3	+0.5 m	-	10%
II	4	+1.0 m	1 m tiles flooded	20%
III	5	+1.5 m	2 m tiles flooded	30%
IV	6	+2.0 m	1 m tiles submerged	40%
V	7	+2.5 m	3 m tiles flooded	55%
VI	8	+3.0 m	2 m tiles submerged	70%
VII	9	+3.5 m	3 m tiles submerged	85%

The World Climate Screen

All the info about the new climate system may be visualized on the brand new Climate screen, which may be opened from a special button found in the upper left corner of the game screen. Here on the left-hand side you may see the current level of CO2, how much has the world temperature risen, and what is the current climate game setting. On the right-hand side you may see the relevant chances for each type of disaster (which stem from the climate change described to the left). At the bottom of the screen you will see the world sea condition: how much polar ice has been lost, and how much has the sea level risen as a consequence (down to the raw number of tiles which are currently flooded or submerged already). The bar in the upper part of the screen shows the current phase of climate change. As temperature rises, it starts filling with red, pushing the change further and further into the next phases which worsen progressively the effects. Finally, in the center you will see info about the latest disaster to have struck the known lands. Tabs at the top of the screen provide further info about the historic trend of CO2 rise, and about the disasters which have already struck.