Climate stripes link Reading to Fashion Week and Greta Thunberg

Even rock band Enter Shikari displayed it at Reading Festival.

But few people know that image, which represents data on climate change, was created by Reading professor Ed Hawkins.

In the wake of Cop26, the academic lead for public engagement in the department of meteorology at the University of Reading spoke with the Chronicle about the success of his invention.

Climate Stripes created by Ed Hawkins with the University of Reading

“It is humbling to see something that was created out of the numbers and graphs I see on daily basis as a climate scientist being shared by the likes of Greta Thunberg and many other important figures and organisations that I hugely admire,” said Prof Hawkins.

“The most satisfying thing is the thought that people who previously haven’t thought too much about climate change might see the stripes on their social media timeline, on TV or at a festival and start a conversation about it as a result. That really is crucial.”

Climate Stripes are bar charts which visualise warming global temperatures.

Climate Stripes, created by professor Ed Hawkins with the University of Reading

“It is critical that everybody has some understanding of how climate change is impacting on the world and how our lives will change because of it,” Prof Hawkins said.

“If we are to take effective climate action then we first need people to realise what is happening and that they are part of the solution.

Read more: Melting roads and flooding: The risks to Reading if climate change isn't tackled

“The fact the stripes have been shared so widely is what makes it important. Its simplicity appears to have struck a chord with people and opened their eyes to the scale of the problem of climate change, and the fact that temperatures have risen so sharply in only the last couple of decades.”

Research by the university predicts that if the climate emergency continues at it’s current rate, Reading will see an increase of 1.4C by 2040 compared to the average temperature between 1981 and 2000.

This means Reading residents are expected to live through two heatwaves a year and 35 days where roads are at risk of melting.

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The river flood risk could increase by as much as 7.5 per cent and wildfires are projected to be a risk for 37 days of the year.

“It’s hard to ignore from one look at the stripes that global temperatures are increasing in a dramatic fashion.

“It’s a worrying image in that way, but the takeaway message is much more positive, and that is that we have time to act to stop things getting worse. Our choices determine what happens next.”