VISUALIZING CLIMATE CHANGE

Edinburgh Futures Institute

Climate change through data visualization: from warming stripes to the UK Co-Benefits Atlas. Free public meetup.

Edinburgh Futures Institute, The University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Data Visualization Meetup

Anyone interested in the process and product of more effectively and ingeniously communicating the meanings inherent in data by visual or other sensory techniques.

📈 Some of the most consequential findings in climate science have been communicated using visualization. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_stick_graph" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_stick_graph" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">hockey stick graph</a> — showing a sharp upward spike in global temperatures after centuries of relative stability — became one of the defining images of climate science. More recently, Ed Hawkins' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warming_stripes" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warming_stripes" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">warming stripes</a> distilled over a century of temperature data into a single image that needed no axes or labels to make its point. Many other approaches exist (see below), and visual approaches like these are helping researchers, policymakers, industry, and the public better understand our changing world.🏛️ In collaboration between the <a href="https://efi.ed.ac.uk/" title="https://efi.ed.ac.uk/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Edinburgh Futures Institute</a> and <a href="https://designinformatics.org/" title="https://designinformatics.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Design Informatics</a>' <a href="https://vishub.net/" title="https://vishub.net/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">VisHub Lab</a>, this free, open-to-everyone meetup explores how data visualization, visual storytelling, and computational methods can deepen our understanding of climate change in the UK — from urban sustainability and climate action to emerging work in visual analytics and human-centered approaches.As part of the event we will have two talks by Andrew Sudmant and Jinrui Wang who will share insights about their collaboration on the <a href="https://ukcobenefitsatlas.net/" title="https://ukcobenefitsatlas.net/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">UK Co-Benefits Atlas</a>, an interactive map showing the social and economic gains of reaching net zero across more than 46,000 communities in the UK.There will also be plenty of room for discussion - if you are working in the area of climate action/data representation there will be the opportunity to highlight these. We always welcome ad-hoc, informal talks, or project pitches from the audience.🎤 Speakers 👤 Andrew Sudmant <a href="https://edinburghcentre.org/team/andrew-sudmant" title="https://edinburghcentre.org/team/andrew-sudmant" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Website</a> · <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=ouhz-GsAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" title="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=ouhz-GsAAAAJ&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Google Scholar</a> Andrew is Principal Investigator for co-benefits research at the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute and a contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. His research explores the social, economic, and environmental co-benefits of climate action, with particular attention to cities, urban sustainability, and just transitions.👤 Jinrui Wang <a href="https://www.jinruiw.com/" title="https://www.jinruiw.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Website</a> · <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=UrWetaIAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao" title="https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=UrWetaIAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Google Scholar</a> Jinrui is a PhD researcher in Design Informatics and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh working at the intersection of visualization, interaction, and data-driven systems. Jinrui's research explores how novel visual and computational approaches can help people understand complex information.📊 Climate Visualization Examples:❄️ Ice &amp; cryosphere 🌐 ESA Climate from Space — Sea ice extent and change across five decades of satellite observations, explorable on an interactive 3D globe. → <a href="https://cfs.climate.esa.int/index.html#/?globe=SI0.00I25.00I25840000I0.00I1778753544658I0II" title="https://cfs.climate.esa.int/index.html#/?globe=SI0.00I25.00I25840000I0.00I1778753544658I0II" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">cfs.climate.esa.int</a> 📈 NSIDC Charctic — Dynamically graph Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent across years and compare trends and anomalies. → <a href="https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today/sea-ice-tools/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph" title="https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today/sea-ice-tools/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">nsidc.org</a>🛰️ Multi-agency dashboards 🤝 ESA / NASA / JAXA Earth Observing Dashboard — Trilateral platform covering atmosphere, cryosphere, biomass, oceans, agriculture, and economy using data from three space agencies. → <a href="https://eodashboard.org/explore/?x=15.0000&amp;y=48.0000&amp;z=4.0000&amp;template=expert" title="https://eodashboard.org/explore/?x=15.0000&amp;y=48.0000&amp;z=4.0000&amp;template=expert" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">eodashboard.org</a>🌡️ Temperature &amp; climate zones 🏙️ The Pudding — Climate Zones — 70 cities across all five climate zones, showing which city each will most resemble by 2070. → <a href="https://pudding.cool/2024/06/climate-zones/" title="https://pudding.cool/2024/06/climate-zones/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">pudding.cool</a> 📅 Copernicus — European State of the Climate 2024 — Temperature trends, extreme events, and an analysis of the first calendar year to exceed 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. → <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/esotc/2024" title="https://climate.copernicus.eu/esotc/2024" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">climate.copernicus.eu</a> ⏱️ Emanuele Bevacqua — Climate Visuals — The "coffee plot" global warming clock, CO₂ concentration stripes, and sea level rise visualizations. → <a href="https://emanuele.bevacqua.eu/climatevisuals/" title="https://emanuele.bevacqua.eu/climatevisuals/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">emanuele.bevacqua.eu</a>🌐 Global platforms 👁️ NASA Eyes on the Earth — Real-time 3D visualization of eight planetary vital signs — sea level, CO₂, ice, soil moisture, and more — tracked across NASA's satellite fleet. → <a href="https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/earth/" title="https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/earth/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">eyes.nasa.gov</a> 🎞️ NASA Scientific Visualization Studio — Archive of animations and visualizations from NASA missions, including global temperature records and ice sheet change. → <a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/climate-essentials/" title="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/climate-essentials/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">svs.gsfc.nasa.gov</a> 📊 Our World in Data — Climate Change — Open-access charts covering emissions, temperature trends, and energy transitions, with strong per-country breakdowns. → <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/climate-change" title="https://ourworldindata.org/climate-change" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">ourworldindata.org</a> 🗺️ World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal — Per-country and regional climate projections using multiple climate models, including historical data and warming stripes for any nation. → <a href="https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/" title="https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org</a>

VISUALIZING CLIMATE CHANGE

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VISUALIZING CLIMATE CHANGE

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