White Cliffs of Dover display stark climate change message

The White Cliffs of Dover have been illuminated blue and red to highlight a stark climate change message.

The Tate Modern chimney and landmarks in Reading, the USA and Canada will also display the climate stripes on Wednesday, 21 June, to mark Show Your Stripes Day. People all over the world are being encouraged to download and share the graphics and start conversations about the impact of climate change where they live.

Created in 2018 by Professor Ed Hawkins, climate scientist at the University of Reading and National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the vertical-coloured bars have no words and no numbers and show the progressive heating of our planet in a single, striking image. The blue and red stripes show clearly and vividly how global average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries.

Professor Hawkins said: “In 2022 millions of people saw the stripes at Reading Festival, London Fashion Week and on football kits and started conversations about climate change. Displaying the stripes on the White Cliffs of Dover and other landmarks will hopefully lead to more conversations about our warming world and inspire people to work together to tackle climate change.

“We are seeing a rapid rise in temperature, mainly due to burning fossil fuels, and this already means we are experiencing more intense extreme weather with severe consequences for all of us. Every bit of future warming will make those consequences worse.”

Local action

Schoolchildren in Reading and Wokingham will come together to think about climate actions they would like to see in their schools at a Youth Climate Summit on Wednesday, 21 June.

They will gather at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, home of Reading FC, to display the University of Reading’s climate stripes.

Professor Hawkins said: “The climate stripes featured on the most recent Reading FC kit, and at an event last season we had lots of youngsters design their own amazing strips that featured interesting climate change messages. Schoolchildren know more about climate change than ever before but it’s so important that they keep starting conversations about our warming planet. We need to listen to our children’s concerns about the future.”

A number of Reading landmarks will be illuminated blue and red to showcase the climate stripes.

Show Your Stripes

Children up and down the UK are also being encouraged to show their stripes by downloading graphics at ShowYourStripes.info.

Show Your Stripes Day has been chosen as Let’s Go Zero’s national school’s day of action. Let’s Go Zero, a national campaign uniting teachers, pupils, parents and their schools as they all work together to be zero carbon by 2030, will provide tools and activities for schools to have meaningful conversations about climate change on Wednesday, 21 June.