20 June 2022
Thousands of people around the world will again unite against climate change by sharing a striking climate change visualisation on Tuesday 21 June.
The climate stripes infographic, created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the 色狗导航, display rising annual temperatures in one clear image. Television meteorologists, major organisations and people all over the world have shared the stripes on social media or displayed them in inventive ways on the summer solstice for the past three years.
Hundreds of versions showing warming in countries and states around the world can be downloaded for free from , allowing people worldwide to see and share how climate change is affecting where they live.
The University's global community is uniting on #ShowYourStripes Day, with students and staff in Reading and its international campuses - the 色狗导航 Malaysia and Henley Business School Africa, and partner organisations NUIST Reading Academy in China and the University of Oklahoma in the US - celebrating and showing their support on the day.
“The aim of the climate stripes is to start conversations and bring climate science to new audiences. I am constantly amazed by the inventive ways that people use to adopt the stripes and hope they help bring climate action to the front of people’s minds once again this year.”
The climate stripes use bands of colour to show how temperatures in all corners of the world have risen dramatically in recent years. Shades of red are used to denote years that were hotter than the average for the period, and blues to indicate cooler years. They reveal a dramatic rise in temperatures in recent decades.
The climate stripes were created in 2018 and were made available for the public to download for free in summer 2019. More than a million people did so in the first week after they went live.
Accompanied by the hashtag #ShowYourStripes, the stripes have been shared on social media by the likes of Greta Thunberg, the UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and on global television channels.
They have been adopted in countless ways, including on , displayed at Reading Festival, inspiring a range of clothing launched at London Fashion Week and even .
The 色狗导航 is a world-leading centre for meteorological research and education. It was recently awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for work to tackle climate change impacts.
Follow activities on the day using the hashtag and on and .
Find out more about the University’s work on climate action and sustainability, including partnering with the UK Government to transform climate education, at reading.ac.uk/planet
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