News
19 Jun 2025
21 June is ‘Show your Stripes Day’, an annual global call to share a powerful message about our changing climate. There are thousands of images which climate scientists have created to try to illustrate the scale and speed of climate change, but no other image has captivated the global audience quite like the climate stripes.
Image credit: https://showyourstripes.info/
I was fortunate enough to meet the creator, Prof. Ed Hawkins, at an event I attended in London last year and I applauded him about the success of the climate stripes, and pointed out that I was wearing a climate stipes label badge. Listening to Ed speaking to a larger audience during his presentation, even he acknowledged that he had no idea that his climate stripes image would become the defining, relatable go-to image linking global efforts on climate change.
The defining success of the stripes is that you need no understanding of climate science – nor of the complexities involved – to see a trend, a pattern, and to grasp that we are living in the midst of an unprecedented climate. One in which none of our predecessors, spanning hundreds of thousands of years into the past, has ever lived. And yet, this will be considered tame compared to where we are hurtling in the decades to come."
Nick Drake
Director of Net Zero
The success of the stripes has been viral and global. They have been projected onto landmarks, such as Brisbane bridge in Queensland, Australia and the white cliffs of Dover in 2024.
They’ve even crossed over into contemporary fashion, appearing on clothing and accessories as a bold symbol of climate awareness. The climate stripes have been so successful that other areas have applied a similar approach. This version of the stripes illustrates the decline in biodiversity since 1970 – 2020.
Image credit: https://showyourstripes.info/
These stripes should unite, connect and inspire everyone on our planet to recognise the predicament of where we are, and where we are heading – and to understand the urgent need for rapid, large-scale, global emissions reductions.
Please take a look at the climate stripes website, where you can choose a local regional stripes chart showing changes in your region or city.
The climate stripes were created by Prof. Ed Hawkins – National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading.
No other image has captivated the global audience quite like the climate stripes.
This image should unite, connect and inspire everyone on our planet to recognise the predicament of where we are, and where we are heading – and to understand the urgent need for rapid, large-scale, global emissions reductions.
