Show Your Stripes

Portland Meteorologist Matt Zaffino showed his stripes on Facebook in 2019.

While public awareness about climate change has increased substantially over the years, gaps still remain in public understanding of the many risks posed by a warming climate. While two out of three Americans are worried about climate change, less than half think it will harm them personally. Meteorologists, who serve as trusted translators of science to local communities, help improve the public’s understanding of the risks that climate change pose to all of us.

This June will mark the fourth year of the #MetsUnite and #ShowYourStripes awareness campaign, when hundreds of meteorologists across the country are expected to show the “Warming Stripes” of their city, state, country, or globe—images that spread across social media, as well as on ties, shirts, earrings, coffee mugs, cars, and even face masks. Developed by climate scientist Ed Hawkins, these stripes show an area’s annual temperature anomalies, meaning the difference in annual temperature from its long-term average.

The transition of mostly blue to mainly red stripes show a clear warming trend.

Check out your local or global stripes at https://showyourstripes.info/, and keep an eye out for your favorite local meteorologist to share their stripes later this month.

Learn more about energy and climate change in Oregon on our website.

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A version of this story first appeared in our 2020 Biennial Energy Report. Check it out.