On Show Your Stripes Day, 21 June 2024, global landmarks from London, to Brisbane, to New York City were lit up with the University of Reading’s climate stripes to start conversations about the Earth’s rapid warming.
Show your stripes
From London to Australia, landmarks from all over the world came together for Show Your Stripes Day 2024 to help spread the message about climate change. Brisbane’s iconic bridges were illuminated using Queensland’s climate stripes. While the United States saw the Dublin Link Bridge in Columbus, The Six Light Bridges in Houston, Baltimore’s City Hall and the PECO building in Philadelphia, all illuminated by the stripes.
In the UK, the Tower of London was just one of the various global landmarks showing the climate stripes on Friday 21 June 2024. Alongside Lord’s Cricket Ground, the nearly 1000-year-old White Tower was transformed into a monumental canvas of red and blue to show the progressive heating of the capital.
Jen Stone, Sustainability Manager at Historic Royal Palaces – the charity that cares for the Tower of London – said: “The Tower of London is a place where history has been made for nearly 1000 years and it’s a place where history continues to unfold to this day.
“As a charity, we are committed to acting for the future of our historically significant buildings, our people and, ultimately, of the planet. This means making changes onsite – like our ambitious decarbonisation plans – and also harnessing the power of our iconic silhouette to start conversations about the climate crisis and the role we can all play.
“The University of Reading’s climate stripes graphic is a profound and yet simple way to show the world how the planet is warming. We hope the illuminations caught people’s attention and helped to start important conversations about the climate crisis.”
Show Your Stripes Day was heralded with the iconic BT Tower displaying the stripes – watch them light up here:
Find out which other landmarks joined in with Show Your Stripes Day.
In Conversation with Professor Ed Hawkins MBE
On Show Your Stripes Day, the University of Reading hosted a special ‘In Conversation’ event – ‘From Local to Global’ – with Professor Hawkins as part of the Reading Climate Festival.
‘From Local to Global’ shared the story of how the climate stripes spread a message around the world. The warming stripe graphics, created at the University of Reading by Professor Hawkins, are a visual representation of the change in temperature over the past 100+ years. These climate stripes are free to download from #ShowYourStripes.
Professor Hawkins shared how the stripes have reached well beyond academic circles, featuring in places ranging from intergovernmental negotiations, media, sports, arts and fashion.
Watch the recording of this event – Professor Hawkins: From Local to Global
We were also thrilled to announce during this event that the climate stripes are featuring in a brand new eco-focused Hollywood film, ‘Ozi: Voice of the Forest’ which is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Watch the trailer below:
Other climate activities included the Running Out of Time climate relay, a run to raise awareness about climate change which passed through Reading on 21 June. While in the Netherlands, 2,500 people cycled wearing climate stripes jerseys.
Climate Stripes Scholarship
Earlier this year the University launched a new scholarship scheme for Master’s students wanting to study Meteorology. The scholarship was made possible thanks to the generosity of donors who share the University of Reading’s passion for Climate Science and improving climate education, many of whom are alumni. Donations were received through the #ShowYourStripes campaign.
The scholarship provides students with a £5000 grant to help towards their living expenses and is matched by the University with a £5000 tuition fee discount.
There has been an incredible response to the scholarship which has attracted applications from 22 different countries around the world. We are pleased to announce that we are awarding two scholarships to students who will enrol at Reading this September.
A scholarship scheme like this enables us to share knowledge and empower more people to take action around the world. Thank you for your support.
