You’ve probably already seen them on television, on a placard at a climate march, on a US senator’s badge, at fashion week or even on a football player’s jersey. Now famous, these so-called ‘warming stripes’ have become a new symbol to represent global warming. So where do they come from and what do they mean?
These stripes look like a barcode, with lines that turn increasingly red from left to right. The so-called ‘warming stripes’ have grown greatly in popularity and are now considered one of the most widespread symbols of global warming. And this graphic representation is based on serious material, as it was designed by Ed Hawkings, a British climatologist who is a professor at the University of Reading. The scientist, who also co-authored the last two IPCC reports, designed these ‘climate stripes’ in 2018 by intentionally omitting the words and numbers. Ed Hawkins on the University of Reading website explains, “Just a series of stacked colored bars, showing the progressive warming of our planet in a single, striking image.”
These ‘Climate Stripes’ aim to illustrate in a clear and engaging way how average global temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries. It begins in the 1850s, represented by the blue stripes on the far left of the image, and continues through the 2010s. Each band represents the mean temperature for a given year, relative to the mean temperature for the entire period. Shades of blue indicate colder years, while reds indicate warmer years. “The dark band of dark red stripes on the right side of the graphic shows the rapid warming of our planet in recent decades,” says Ed Hawkings.
Since its creation in 2018, the Warming Stripes graphic has spread like wildfire. It is now seen everywhere, whether on the cover of Greta Thunberg’s new book, on the jersey of the English city of Reading’s football team, at London Fashion Week or elsewhere. Brands have also been quick to capture the image. Now, warming stripes are widely deployed on merchandising items like mugs, T-shirts, pin badges… and even masks! While some may view this marketing appropriation as greenwashing, it could also be argued that the democratization of this symbol is helping to take the climate crisis out of the public mind.
Says Ed Hawkins, and this is actually his primary occupation: “Stripes images for over 200 countries, states and cities are available to download for free from the #ShowYourStripes website. People in every country can see how their homes are getting warmer and help start a conversation about climate change by sharing photos. More than one million people downloaded graphics from the site within a week of its launch in 2019. , presented at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
It’s an elegant and evocative graphic, though it hasn’t had the same success as its striped successor.
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