What the 'warming bands' tell us about climate change

The event, which coincides with the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice, seeks to raise global awareness of human-caused climate change, its cascading effects on our health and our homes, and what we as a society can do to ensure a sustainable future for humans. and places we like.

"WMO endorses the call for everyone to share the famous 'warming bands', a powerful visual representation of how global temperatures have risen since the Industrial Revolution," says WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

"The year 2023 was the warmest year on record globally. Extreme weather phenomena are more and more often observed all over the world. The need to address climate change has never been more urgent," he says.

Created by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins of the University of Reading, each stripe represents one year, with colors going from cool blue to warm red, representing the increase in temperature recorded over the last 150 years or more. (More on wmo.int)