Read the full story from the Washington Post.
When you watch a local television weather forecast Friday, look closely. You might spot your hometown meteorologist showing his or her stripes.
Some weather presenters don ties or earrings, a pattern of red-and-blue stripes draped across the articles. Others might project an image of the corresponding stripe array behind them via a monitor or green screen, the colorful assortment of lines resembling a tie-dyed bar code. And in a sense, each collection of stripes is a sort of bar code, containing vitally important information: climate information.
The simple graphics — originally created by climate scientist Ed Hawkins — leave a striking visual impression. In general, the bars transition from cool deep blues and azures on the left to warm yellows, oranges and even reds on the right. Each vertical stripe represents a year, its color corresponding to temperature anomalies. It’s an easily accessible way to convey an alarming trend.
