11 Epic Climate Science Visualisations That Went Viral in 2016
It has been a record-breaking year for climate change, not only for global temperatures but also for the amount of climate science visualisations that went mainstream.
British climate scientist Ed Hawkins made perhaps the biggest impact in 2016 when he tweeted his now famous “spiral” animation back in May. Now the year is coming to an end, Hawkins looks back in a flurry of tweets at what he said was “quite a year for the climate.”
It was the warmest year ever recorded and saw record low sea ice coverage, he reminds us. And of course, it was the year the historic Paris climate accord came into force.
2. Also, climate scientists seemed to rediscover their inner animated gif & created some amazing graphics… where to start?
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
But Hawkins, who is a professor and researcher at the University of Reading, points out that climate scientists also seem to have rediscovered “their inner animated gif” and created some amazing graphics this year.
1. Warmest Month Ever
August 2016 was the warmest August in 136 years of modern record-keeping, according to NASA. Hawkins highlighted this gif created by scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)
3. Warmest month ever by @jscarto & @ClimateOfGavin: https://t.co/fWh5WO1w3Z pic.twitter.com/4FsfvjUWyv
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
2. Temperatures from 1850-2016
In this graphic created by Hawkins himself, you can see all the temperature observations from 1850 until today mapped in a single figure containing world maps that become increasingly dark red.
4. One of mine, all the global temperature observations for 1850-2016 mapped in a single figure. Can you see a trend? pic.twitter.com/yixUa8ubLE
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
3. Wiggling Visualisation
He also tweeted what he calls a “wiggling visualisation” of global temperatures during the same period created by John Kennedy of the UK Met Office.
5. I also liked this wiggling visualisation of the uncertainty in our global temperature estimates from 1850 to now by @micefearboggis pic.twitter.com/e95P044CBu
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
4. Dramatic Changes in The Arctic
PhD student Zack Labe at the University of California, Irvine, saw several of his graphics go viral this year. Here, Hawkins highlights a graph that visualises dramatic temperature changes in the Arctic.
6. @ZLabe has produced some amazing visualisations of the dramatic changes seen in the Arctic this year. Temperatures have been record high. pic.twitter.com/dU8bwWl5wf
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
5. Record Low Ice Volume
Labe also visualised the record low sea ice volume in the Arctic, another important indicator of Arctic climate change as he points out on his blog.
7. @zlabe has also visualised the record low Arctic sea ice volume for November. https://t.co/9x376TlP2a pic.twitter.com/zxsSHedMbm
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
6. Hurricane Damage
This image by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows how river levels changed as Hurrican Matthew struck in early October. Hawkins points out the storm “caused significant damage” to Haiti and the USA. The USGS has an animated version of the graph on its website.
8. Hurricane Matthew caused significant damage to Haiti & USA. @usgs show how river levels changed as storm passed: https://t.co/eMBaPY4LNc pic.twitter.com/XsuD5Mgkil
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
7. Caribbean Storms
Hawkins also liked this image by Washington Post graphics editor Lazaro Gamio, which shows maps of various storms that hit the Carribean over the last 15 years. An article in the Washington Post goes a step further and visualises 100 years of hurricanes that hit and missed Florida.
9. Also hurricane related, I liked these ‘small multiple’ maps of storms to hit the Caribbean by @LazaroGamio: https://t.co/s1NrOLBphz pic.twitter.com/FQ7BX4FQDK
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
8. Epic Timeline
This very long timeline (the tweet just shows the beginning) was 2016’s “most epic climate visualisation” according to Hawkins. The graphic by American cartoonist Randall Munroe won an Information is Beautiful Award, you can scroll through the full timeline on his blog.
10. Most epic climate visualisation of 2016 was a climate timeline by Randall Munroe, which won an @infobeautyaward: https://t.co/88k6BF2UVU pic.twitter.com/BcEqYmpWQb
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
9. Pressure Observation Locations
Philip Brohan of the UK Met Office animated the locations of pressure measurements on continents and oceans around the world since 1850. Surface pressure data is used to forecast weather and issue weather warnings.
11. @PhilipBrohan animated the locations of all available pressure observations for 1850-2008. Lots more to rescue! https://t.co/rP8JTlBxnk
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
10. The Spiral
This is an up to date version of Hawkins’ famous spiral graphic, showing global temperatures spiraling out of control. Hawkins thanked Jan Fuglestvedt of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo “for the initial inspiration.”
13. Updated global temperature spiral for 1850-2016: https://t.co/7cwv3pLH26 [& thanks to @janfug for the initial inspiration] pic.twitter.com/rEygxQfPEJ
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
11. 3D Spiral
Hawkins even created a 3D version of his spiral.
14. And, now, the global temperature spiral in 3D! pic.twitter.com/itUlz3zsvT
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
Hawkins ended his tweet storm with with “a rather stunning image of planet Earth.” The mosaic of Arctic satellite observations was composed by Joshua Stevens, lead of data visualisation and cartography at NASA’s Earth Observatory – a programme now under attack by the incoming Republican government. Download the high-resolution version from NASA’s website while it’s still available!
17. Finally, not an animation, but a rather stunning image of planet Earth (by @jscarto): https://t.co/xt6wgZwT6b #thanksNASA pic.twitter.com/ZLHBQkVcKz
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
Science is not finished until it is communicated, Hawkins quoted the UK’s chief scientific adviser. Like Hawkins, we’ll be on the lookout for more climate visualisations in 2017!
15. Hoping for more novel climate visualisations in 2017! In the words of @uksciencechief: science is not finished until it is communicated.
— Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) December 13, 2016
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