It's 'Show Your Stripes' Day, Ya'll

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton Co-Founder & President

This Saturday, June 21, is "Show Your Stripes Day" -- an annual, global event calling attention to our changing climate and the urgent need for action to slow global warming.  The "warming stripes" were developed in 2018 by climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in England, who has published a new edition every year since.  Each stripe represents the average global temperature for one year, going back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1850. The colors transition from cool blues to warm reds to reflect the increases in average temperatures experienced over time.  Darker reds are the warmest, while darker blues are coolest.

In the video below, Climate Central meteorologist Shel Winkley explains the warming stripes and describes how they depict in a visual manner the warming of our planet, a particular country, or a specific city.  As he says, "These warming stripes turn climate science into art, helping to spark conversations about climate change's impact to the places we love."​

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Even Hotter 'lanta

Climate Central has also provided access to download and share warming stripes for 195 U.S. cities, 49 states, the country, and the globe.  The ones for Georgia and Atlanta are shown below.  (Note:  Start dates for the measurement period vary based on the data available for constructing each graphic.)

It's Code Red(er) Time

When Hawkins released the 2024 edition of the global warming stripes in January of this year, he noted that he'd had to introduce a new deeper shade of red for 2023 and 2024 to represent the unprecedented heat of the two warmest years on record.

"These 'warming stripes,' adopted around the world as a symbol of climate awareness, action and ambition, have just been updated to include a new dark red stripe for 2024," he said.  "It was a colour that I had to add for the first time last year when 2023 shattered the previous records."

The Future We Get Is the One We Choose

While the warming stripes are useful as a visual telling of just how quickly our planet and the places we live have warmed in the past, the more important question is "where do we go from here?"  On his website, Hawkins has shared numerous other climate visualizations, including the "future warming stripes" shown below.

The warming our planet has experienced from 1850 to 2024 is directly attributable to human activities -- primarily the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and housing.  But our future will also be determined by our actions (or lack of them) going forward.  At our current rate of accelerating greenhouse gas emissions, Earth is headed towards a hellish future 3°C (5.4°F) or more warmer than 1850 by the end of this century.  We are already approaching 1.5°C (2.7°F) and must act quickly to slow the increase and hold our world closer to that 1.5°C level.  Here, Hawkins is reminding us we have a choice.  The future is up to us.

Perhaps We Need a Ghost of Climate Future?

In showing us our past and present climate, and now the possible futures, Ed Hawkins is taking us on a journey much like the Christmas Eve one taken by Ebenezer Scrooge with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.  And we find ourselves in much the same place as Scrooge in that graveyard scene with the last of his three visiting spirits.  And like Ebenezer, we ask:

"Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of the things that may be only?  Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead.  But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!"

Hawkins is showing us it is indeed thus.  Our deeds from this point forward will determine our future.  But for how much longer?  Watch the short video clip below and let Professor Hawkins explain how Show Your Stripes Day can inspire you to start conversations with your friends and family about our shared climate future.