Youngsters in Reading and Wokingham were at the home of the Royals today to show their stripes to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on our planet.
School children came together to think about climate actions they would like to see in their schools at a Youth Climate Summit on Wednesday 21 June, a date in the calendar which marks Show Your Stripes Day. As part of the summit, the children gathered at the Select Car Leasing Stadium to display the University of Reading’s climate stripes.
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 “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.
“School children 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 and take action against climate change now.”
The Youth Climate Summit forms part of Reading Climate Festival, and is a joint initiative delivered by Design Nature, Reading Climate Action Network, Reading Borough Council and the University of Reading.
Global stripes
The climate stripes display at the stadium is not the only place where the 'Show Your Stripes' visualisation was on show today.
In Reading, a number of landmarks were set to be illuminated blue and red to showcase the climate stripes.
Elsewhere in the UK, the White Cliffs of Dover were illuminated earlier in the week and the Tate Modern chimney in London will have the stripes projected onto them.
Red and blue stripes will be displayed across various bridges, towers and other large structures in the USA and Canada, too.
Show Your Stripes
Children up and down the country are 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.
