As Earth Day 2023 approaches we’re taking a look at climate change in Manchester, and now charity Carbon Copy has revealed the latest local data in a new graphic format. The ‘warming stripes‘ have been created by leading climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins, and were today released to allow people all over the UK to see in the stripe form how their area has been affected by global warming since 1884.
Shades of blue indicate cooler-than-average years, and red shows years that were hotter than average – no surprise there – and the result for Manchester is stark. Similarly to the whole-UK climate graphic, which features a new dark red bar representing the hottest year on record in 2022, the visualisation for Greater Manchester shows unprecedented temperatures in the last 12 months.
The break down and warming stripe graphic for Manchester’s climate change can be found here, and does include the things we in Greater Manchester are doing to help counteract these statistics. This includes the Metrolink Emission-Free Light Rail System, the RecycleIT Sustainability Project and of course the Bee Network that’s gradually coming into place.
Carbon Copy co-founder Ric Casale said: “We know that effects of climate change: bigger storms, longer summer droughts, and more flooding – are happening right now, right here. Climate change is no longer an abstract issue for someone else to deal with, it’s something that people in the UK can see and feel locally, where they live.
“These warming stripes enable us to clearly see the changing climate in local areas. They can be used in lots of different ways, and can help to start conversations about reducing carbon emissions and preventing the catastrophic effects of further warming.”
Ed Hawkins, Professor of Climate Science at the University of Reading said: “We wanted to create these very localised stripes to give people an indication of how things are changing right where they live. We know that different parts of the UK have different landscapes, different key industries, different population sizes – and all of this can have an impact both on emissions, and average temperatures.
“Our key observation is that regardless of all these factors, the trend remains the same – most of the more recent years have been a lot warmer than most of the years a century ago.”
To find emissions stats for anywhere in the UK, you can use the Carbon Copy ‘Carbon Zero Explorer‘ to search.