Climate change: Stripes campaign 'started conversations'

The graphic for Berkshire illustrates annual average temperatures since 1850 temperature

A campaign to visualise climate change has "started millions of conversations", its creator has said.

Prof Ed Hawkins, of the University of Reading, came up with the "warming stripes" graphics to illustrate temperatures changing over time.

A social media campaign was supported by scientists, TV weather presenters and celebrities around the world.

The university has also announced it will host an online climate education summit ahead of the COP26 talks.

Climate scientist Prof Hawkins said he developed the graphics in 2017 as means of displaying climate change in a "visual and accessible" manner.

Each coloured stripe represents the average temperature for a year since 1850 - blue for cooler temperatures and red for hotter years.

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Thicker bands of deep red stripes tend to appear on the right hand side of the graphics, showing how human action has contributed to a heating up of the climate in more recent years, Prof Hawkins said.

The latest array of stripes, covering more than 200 countries, states and regions, is available online.

Bar charts also visualise how far above average each year's average temperature was.

The #showyourstripes campaign, to tie in with the summer solstice, was supported by scientists, TV weather presenters, celebrities and campaigners, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis and activist Greta Thunberg who tweeted the stripes graphic of her native Sweden.

Prof Hawkins tweeted that the response had been "amazing".

"Millions of climate conversations have been started all across the globe," he said.

"Everyone who downloads and shares the stripes is contributing to highlighting the impact climate change is having on the planet.

"Collaboration and partnerships will be key to adapting to climate change and preventing things from getting any worse."

The stripes designs are also being used to create a fashion range of organic cotton scarves, the University of Reading said.

The university also announced it would be bringing together teachers, scientists, policymakers and campaigners at a special online event in September to create an action plan for climate education in schools.

Glasgow is due to host the COP26 international climate talks in November.