You have to hand it to Tesla electric vehicle owners; they’re a devoted bunch.
Mark Hanson – known on Twitter as @NetZeroMN – has made it a point to give his Tesla EV its very own climate change makeover to start a conversation about global warming.
It’s not visions of parched earth or extreme weather events, but a simple striped gradation flickering from blues at the top into reds towards towards the bottom.
Via a sign in his car, he elaborates on what the stripes represent.
Spotted: @NetZeroMN‘s striped Tesla, inspired by @ed_hawkins‘ stunning climate visualization. ???????? pic.twitter.com/IIKYuaMTIv
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) July 15, 2018
“The wrap on this car is inspired by Professor Ed Hawkin’s ‘Warming Stripes’ graphic,” Hanson explains.
Prof. Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist working at the University of Reading, is known for his website Climate Lab Book which is a blog that offers an open platform through which to discuss climate science.
It’s also a great resource for a number of visualisations in the form of stripes and spirals that very effectively communicate the earth’s gradual decline towards warmer temperatures.
“This graphic shows each year’s average global temperature, between 1850-2017, as a colour, blue for cooler than average, red for warmer. The deeper the colour, the further from the average,” Hanson continues.
The stripes have also made it into the fashion wardrobes of weather forecasters in the form of ties, necklaces and mugs, in an effort to educate viewers about global warming.
The campaign, made viral on Twitter using the hashtag #MetsUnite, shows meteorologists and weather sporting the stripes in solidarity.
“The Earth faces big challenges now & in the near future. It’s important that I be a part of the change I wish to see,” tweeted Jeff Berardelli, founder of the campaign and weather anchor at US TV station WPEC.
For those of you who don’t know I’ll be leaving the station come fall & heading to Columbia U to study climate change & society. The Earth faces big challenges now & in the near future. It’s important that I be a part of the change I wish to see https://t.co/T1YQ6ePnbP #MetsUnite pic.twitter.com/VnaogfzdQH
— Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) July 17, 2018
As for Mark Hanson, he says that his Tesla has become a great starting point for discussing climate change and electric vehicles.
On his blog, Driven to Net Zero, he says, “I have had more conversations in the last 10 days than I have in a very long time. At one of the events, I heard a woman using the ‘warming stripes’ design to show her daughter how the earth’s temperature has been changing.”
If you’re interested in using Prof. Hawkin’s warming stripes for your own project, you can access the visualisations made from data at various locations around the globe at Climate Lab Book.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.