By Nathan Crabbe, The Invading Sea
Today is Show Your Stripes Day, a time to spread awareness about climate change using “warming stripes” graphics showing temperature trends over the last 100-plus years.

University of Reading climate scientist Ed Hawkins first created the iconic graphic to illustrate long-term increases in world temperatures. Each colored stripe represents the annual average temperature for a specific year as compared to the long-term average.
Red stripes represent hotter-than-average years, while blue stripes are years that were cooler. A shift from blue to red stripes in recent decades illustrates how heat-trapping pollution has warmed the planet. With global temperatures breaking records in 2023 and 2024, the color scale of the stripes had to be expanded earlier than expected.
Through the #ShowYourStripes campaign, warming stripes are being featured on landmarks, sports jerseys, vehicles and more. The nonprofit organization Climate Central releases warming stripes graphics annually for 195 U.S. cities, 49 states, the country and the planet.
Bernadette Woods Placky, vice president of engagement and chief meteorologist at Climate Central, spoke recently about the initiative with VoLo Foundation’s Carlos Roa. The initiative is intended to drive change, Placky said.
“Big change starts with informed people. As more people understand what’s at stake and speak up, we build momentum for clean energy, better transit, sustainable choices,” she said. “Conversations drive culture, and culture drives systems.”
Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here. To support The Invading Sea, click here to make a donation. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Banner image: A bus covered in warming stripes in the town of Reading in England, where they were first created. (km30192002, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons).