Made at Reading: Show your stripes for the climate
21 June 2019
Striking new climate graphics showing how average temperatures have risen in every corner of the globe are being shared around the world today (Friday 21 June, summer/winter solstice) as part of an international campaign.
The ‘climate stripes’ graphics were made at Reading by climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins, and are being shared on social media under #showyourstripes and #madeatreading, and are part a week-long focus of the University of Reading’s environmental research and action.
People can find a custom-made graphic for their own country or US state from the website showyourstripes.info, hosted by Reading’s Institute for Environmental Analytics. The graphics illustrate how temperatures have changed year-by-year over the past century or more.
Weather presenters, scientists, and others concerned about climate change are sharing the graphics on Show Your Stripes day today (21 June), to raise awareness of the pervasive reality of global warming. Anyone can download and share the graphics on social media, and even wear it in the form of a tie, leggings, badge or other items available at https://www.zazzle.co.uk/store/climate_visuals
The day is the culmination of a week-long #madeatreading celebration of world class environmental research and action at the University, which follows as part of Universities UK’s #madeatuni campaign.
Professor Hawkins, climate scientist at National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, said: “We’re asking everyone to show their stripes for the climate. We hope that by raising awareness of this data in a visual and accessible way more people will wake up to the reality of climate change, wherever they live.
“Scientists measure global temperatures and draw graphs of heat building up over time, yet no individual person can ever experience average global warming.
“By showing just how temperatures have risen in every single country and every single state on the planet, it shows people that this is a worldwide phenomenon from which there is nowhere to hide. We really are all in this together.
“I would urge anyone who cares the future of our planet to check out the stripes for their region and share it with others. It’s a powerful way to show what we humans have already done to the climate in our respective home countries. If we want to avoid heating up our homes even further, we must act quickly.”
Professor Hawkins first shared a climate stripes graphic online in 2017. It uses a coloured stripe to represent the global average temperature for each year since 1850 – blue for cooler temperatures and red for hotter years.
The thick band of deep red stripes that appear on the right hand side of the graphics act as a stark warning of how human action has contributed to a heating up of the climate over time.
The University has been highlighting its world-leading environmental research that could help save the planet all week, as well as its involvement in sustainability projects in the local community and action it has taken to significantly reduce its own carbon footprint.