Warming stripes

Not to be confused with Time temperature indicator.

An early (2018) warming stripes graphic published by their originator, climatologist Ed Hawkins.[1] The progression from blue (cooler) to red (warmer) stripes portrays annual increases of global average temperature since 1850 (left side of graphic) until the date of the graphic (right side).[2]

Warming stripes (sometimes referred to as climate stripes,[3][4][5][Note 1] climate timelines[6] or stripe graphics[7]) are data visualization graphics that use a series of coloured stripes chronologically ordered to visually portray long-term temperature trends.[2][Note 2] Warming stripes reflect a "minimalist"[2][5] style, conceived to use colour alone to avoid technical distractions to intuitively convey global warming trends to non-scientists.[8][9]

The initial concept of visualizing historical temperature data has been extended to involve animation,[10] to visualize sea level rise[11] and predictive climate data,[12] and to visually juxtapose temperature trends with other data such as atmospheric CO2 concentration,[13] global glacier retreat,[14] precipitation,[4] progression of ocean depths,[15] aviation emission's percentage contribution to global warming,[16] biodiversity loss,[17] soil moisture deviations,[18] and fine particulate matter concentrations.[19] In less technical contexts, the graphics have been embraced by climate activists, used as cover images of books and magazines, used in fashion design, projected onto natural landmarks, and used on athletic team uniforms, music festival stages, and public infrastructure.[20]

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  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Gizmodo_20190617 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference WashPost_20190621 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NOAAclimate_20190628 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Potsdam_20190927 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NCAS_2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ClimateReality_20190621 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gizmodo_20180525 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference ScienceAlert_20180525 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vox_20190530 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference RSJones_20190708 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gizmodo_20190320 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bevacqua_201811 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference RSJones_20190701 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference OceanCoastalMgt_20210523 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference IOPhysics_20211104 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference BiodiversityStripes_20230400 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference DWD_SoilMoisture_202310 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference AirQualityStripes_202408 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC_20231210 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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