Latest news with #EdHawkins
HKFP
a day ago
- Climate
- HKFP
Show Your Stripes Day: Hong Kong temperature rise visualised in climate warning stripes
The rise in Hong Kong's temperature has been illustrated in the latest set of 'warning stripes' by British climate scientist Ed Hawkins as part of a worldwide campaign to spark discussion on global warming. Saturday marks the eighth annual Show Your Stripes Day. The June 21 event encourages people around the world to share graphics representing temperature changes in different countries and regions over the past century and more. Launched in 2018 by Hawkins, a University of Reading professor, the graphics for most countries and regions feature stripes that have shifted from predominantly blue to red in recent years, indicating rising temperatures in those locations. The graphic for Hong Kong charts the city's average temperature since 1885, based on data from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO). The most recent stripe, shown in dark burgundy, represents the highest temperature rise relative to the average recorded between 1961 and 2010. In a promotional video shared last month, Hawkins said the warning stripes aimed to transform 'abstract meteorological data' into 'something people can't ignore.' He said he wanted the graphics – which have been featured on football jerseys, projected onto the Tower of London, and displayed at the UN COP25 conference in Madrid – to prompt people to 'ask questions.' 'You don't need to be a scientist to understand the message and feel concern. The Earth is heating up, and the pace is accelerating,' Hawkins said. Last year was Hong Kong's hottest since records began 140 years ago. The city broke 35 heat records, experiencing its warmest winter and autumn on record. According to the Hong Kong Observatory's annual report released in January, the annual mean temperature reached 24.8 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees above the 1991–2020 average. Hong Kong recorded the hottest day of the year on June 10, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 34.3 degrees Celsius. The maximum UV index reached 12, an exposure level classified as 'extreme.' The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the intensity and frequency of heatwaves have continued to increase since the 1950s due to human-caused climate change. The prevalence of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide – which trap heat in the atmosphere – raises the planet's surface temperature, with hotter, longer heatwaves putting lives at risk. Hong Kong has already warmed by 1.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, research NGO Berkeley Earth says. Heat and humidity may reach lethal levels for protracted periods by the end of the century, according to a 2023 study, making it impossible to stay outdoors in some parts of the world.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Science
- Associated Press
Communities Worldwide Prepare to #ShowYourStripes on June 21
A global initiative turns climate science into conversation PRINCETON, N.J., June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, June 21, meteorologists, journalists, scientists, content creators, and communities across the globe will join Show Your Stripes Day. This growing global initiative aims to raise awareness about human-caused climate change through a striking visual language: the Warming Stripes. At the heart of this campaign is a simple, powerful graphic: each stripe represents a year, with blue tones for cooler-than-average years and red for warmer ones. These data-driven visuals, developed by climate scientist Ed Hawkins, transform more than a century of temperature records into a compelling snapshot of our warming world. The stripes don't just show global warming. They localize it. Participants can explore how average temperatures have changed in their own cities, states, or countries, helping to spark public engagement and climate dialogue rooted in lived experience. This year's effort is led by Climate Central, with support from VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit committed to accelerating science-based climate solutions. Why It Matters 'VoLo Foundation Co-Founder and Trustee Thais Lopez Vogel underscores the importance of data in driving action: 'Global warming isn't just an opinion. It's a fact. Data moves us from debate to action. Here's how temperatures are rising where you live.' 'The more people understand the rising harms of our changing climate to the people, places, and things they love, the more they will move toward action,' emphasized Bernadette Woods Placky, VP of Engagement, Climate Matters Director, and Chief Meteorologist at Climate Central. How to #ShowYourStripes: These graphics, grounded in the latest science, also highlight the link between rising global temperatures and extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires. By participating in #ShowYourStripes, individuals and institutions help make climate change visible, local, and urgent, one conversation at a time. MEDIA CONTACTS: VoLo Foundation Carlos Roa, Senior Press and PR Director 📧 [email protected] 🌐 Climate Central Shel Winkley, Weather & Climate Engagement Specialist 📧 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE VoLo Foundation
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Communities Worldwide Prepare to #ShowYourStripes on June 21
A global initiative turns climate science into conversation PRINCETON, N.J., June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, June 21, meteorologists, journalists, scientists, content creators, and communities across the globe will join Show Your Stripes Day. This growing global initiative aims to raise awareness about human-caused climate change through a striking visual language: the Warming Stripes. At the heart of this campaign is a simple, powerful graphic: each stripe represents a year, with blue tones for cooler-than-average years and red for warmer ones. These data-driven visuals, developed by climate scientist Ed Hawkins, transform more than a century of temperature records into a compelling snapshot of our warming world. The stripes don't just show global warming. They localize it. Participants can explore how average temperatures have changed in their own cities, states, or countries, helping to spark public engagement and climate dialogue rooted in lived experience. This year's effort is led by Climate Central, with support from VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit committed to accelerating science-based climate solutions. Why It Matters"VoLo Foundation Co-Founder and Trustee Thais Lopez Vogel underscores the importance of data in driving action: "Global warming isn't just an opinion. It's a fact. Data moves us from debate to action. Here's how temperatures are rising where you live." "The more people understand the rising harms of our changing climate to the people, places, and things they love, the more they will move toward action," emphasized Bernadette Woods Placky, VP of Engagement, Climate Matters Director, and Chief Meteorologist at Climate Central. How to #ShowYourStripes: Download Your Stripes: Get the global image at or go to Climate Central's interactive platform to generate a free graphic for your city, state, or country. Show Off Your Stripes: Share the graphic on social media, set it as your profile picture, post it in group chats, or drop it in your workplace Slack or Teams. Tag and Amplify: Use the hashtag #ShowYourStripes and tag @ClimateCentral to spread the word. Tell the Story: Share why you're showing your stripes. Personal stories can turn data into action. These graphics, grounded in the latest science, also highlight the link between rising global temperatures and extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires. By participating in #ShowYourStripes, individuals and institutions help make climate change visible, local, and urgent, one conversation at a time. MEDIA CONTACTS:VoLo FoundationCarlos Roa, Senior Press and PR Director📧 croa@ Climate CentralShel Winkley, Weather & Climate Engagement Specialist📧 swinkley@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE VoLo Foundation Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
27-05-2025
- General
- Fast Company
This viral climate graphic just got a troubling update
Few illustrations have electrified the climate movement more successfully—and globally—than Ed Hawkins's climate stripes. Since the British climate scientist first published his graphic in 2018, the stripes have been displayed on Times Square billboards, printed on beer cans, splashed across fashion collections, and even woven on a scarf that was worn by the late Pope Francis. The graphic was enshrined as a design object in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection in New York. The problem is, 'warming stripes' have only ever shown part of the picture—namely, global average temperatures on the surface of the Earth. But climate change doesn't stop at the surface. A newly updated version of the stripes now visualizes the impact climate change has had not just on land, but also on our oceans and the atmosphere. Some parts of the new graphic may come as a surprise. The new 'Climate Stripes' The new version was developed in collaboration with Ric Williams, a professor in the University of Liverpool's Department of Earth, Ocean, and Ecological Sciences, alongside other scientists from the University of Liverpool and the U.K. Met Office. The data behind this expanded graphic has existed for years, but it has remained largely unknown to the public. 'I got approached by two people saying, 'What about atmosphere?' and 'What about ocean?' So it was a natural thing to do,' Hawkins says. 'We've had [these] warming estimates for a long time, but having them all in one graphic is what we've managed to do here.' For the ocean portion of the graph, the team drew from a mix of long-term ship-based measurements and the Argo float program, an international network of nearly 4,000 autonomous drifting sensors that measure temperature and salinity across the world's oceans. Their findings revealed that the ocean has been warming at a rate similar to the atmosphere. That's because a staggering 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions is absorbed by the ocean, leading to coral bleaching, mass die-offs of fish, and sea level rise (due to thermal expansion). The atmospheric stripes paint a more complex picture. While the troposphere—the lowest layer of the atmosphere—has been steadily warming, the stratosphere above it has been cooling. That contrast might seem strange, but for Hawkins, it is actually one of the clearest fingerprints of human-caused climate change. Here's how it works: Carbon dioxide acts like a heat-trapping blanket, warming the lower atmosphere and preventing heat from reaching the upper layers. At the same time, more CO₂ in the stratosphere helps it radiate energy out into space more efficiently, which cools it further. The ozone layer is another factor at play. In the 1970s and '80s, damage from CFCs (the chemicals once used in things like aerosol sprays and old refrigerators) reduced the amount of solar radiation absorbed in the stratosphere, especially in its lower levels, adding to the cooling. Though the ozone layer has been gradually recovering, thanks to international agreements like the Montreal Protocol, the effect is still visible in the data. For Hawkins, this vertical pattern—warming below, cooling above—is a 'very clear signal' that humans are driving it. 'Nothing else can explain this change,' he says. The impact of a visual When Hawkins first released his climate stripes, the image was downloaded more than a million times in its first week. There's no easy way to quantify its impact beyond those downloads, but Hawkins believes it gave people—many of whom may never have engaged with climate science— a visual way to connect with the data. 'My local football team in Reading used stripes on their kit for a season,' he says. The updated graphic is more complex and unlikely to go viral in quite the same way, but Hawkins believes it's a crucial tool for more informed audiences. 'That's the key,' he says. 'We need a range of ways of communicating, verbally as well as visually, to different audiences, depending on their level of expertise.' He might also need a new range of colors. When 2024 was confirmed as the hottest year on record— surpassing even the record-breaking heat of 2023 —Hawkins had to update the visual to include a new, darker red stripe that appears almost black. If temperatures continue to rise over the next few years— as scientists expect they will —he may have to redesign the entire visual scale. 'I have painted myself into a corner,' he says. The scientist anticipates having to rescale the entire graphic to reflect a broader temperature range. 'That's a message in itself,' he adds.
