ACDI marks #ShowYourStripes day

Every year, around 20 June, #ShowYourStripes Day brings people around the world together to highlight the reality of climate change through one of its most recognisable visual tools: the Climate Stripes.

The Climate Stripes transform more than a century of temperature records into a simple sequence of blue and red bands. Using these climate visuals, climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading developed an interactive tool that allows anyone to generate climate stripes for countries, regions and cities around the world, providing a powerful way to communicate long-term warming trends. Each stripe represents a year's average temperature relative to the 1961–2010 average, with the colours shifting from cooler blues to warmer reds as temperatures rise over time. The result is a powerful visual representation of our changing climate.

"In a world where we are distracted by many different crises, it is important to remember that climate change is progressing at an accelerating rate. Climate stripes provide a powerful visual reminder of the need for climate action." - Prof. Mark New, ACDI Research Chair.

To mark this year's Show Your Stripes Day, the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) has developed a poster comparing the global Climate Stripes with those for South Africa and several of the country's major cities. The resource highlights that South Africa is warming, providing a stark visual reminder of the country's growing climate risk.

While global temperatures continue to break records, the impacts of climate change are increasingly being felt across South Africa through more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires. Understanding these trends is a crucial step toward building climate resilience and supporting evidence-based adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Download and share the ACDI Climate Stripes poster

We encourage researchers, educators, students, and members of the public to download ACDI's South African Climate Stripes poster. By displaying and discussing these visualisations, we can help raise awareness of how climate change is affecting our region and why urgent climate action is needed.

Visit the #ShowYourStripes website to learn more about the initiative and explore Climate Stripes from locations around the world and download the ACDI poster to help spread the message across your networks.