When Ed Hawkins, a professor of climate science at Reading University in the UK, wanted to find the simplest way to tell the story of global warming, he turned to an image.
His climate stripe graphics shows how average temperatures have risen over more than a century, going from dark blue to dark red. It paints a stark and unmistakable picture of how our planet is heating up.
Warming Stripes for Arctic Ocean from 1893-2020. Image: Professor Ed Hawkins (University of Reading).
Each stripe represents the temperature in that country averaged over a year. For most countries, the stripes start in the year 1901 and finish in 2020.
For the ocean basins and for several countries with longer datasets available the stripes start in the 19th century instead. For two cities (Stockholm and Vienna), the data starts in the 18th century.
Warming Stripes for Vienna from 1775-2020. Image: Professor Ed Hawkins.
For virtually every country or region, the stripes turn from mainly blue to mainly red in more recent years, illustrating the rise in average temperatures in that country.
Warming Stripes for Australia from 1901-2020. Image: Professor Ed Hawkins.
The graphics are specifically designed to be as simple as possible, and to start conversations about our warming world and the risks of climate change.
There are numerous sources of information which provide more specific details about how temperatures have changed, so these graphics fill a gap and enable communication with minimal scientific knowledge required to understand their meaning.
Warming Stripes for Africa from 1901-2020. Image: Professor Ed Hawkins.
To find out more and discover the stripes of your country, go to: https://showyourstripes.info/
Find out if you are eligible for our paid fellowship programme, and apply before 10pm GMT on Wednesday 10th April Young people and future generations are environmental stewards of the future. Many are also leaders and subject matter experts today. The Climate Champions Team, in support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, are […]
Leaders and stakeholders from various domains will meet this week at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) Summit to address the pressing and interconnected issues of climate change, biodiversity, and Indigenous rights.
Young people and future generations are environmental stewards of the future. The Climate Champions Team, in support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, are committed to strengthening youth agency in climate action.
The 67th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67), the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, will take place this year from 6 – 17 March under the theme, “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.
