Are You There?

Last Updated on: 22nd July 2025, 05:09 pm

I was at Starbuck’s yesterday and I didn’t see you. I went to the mall and you weren’t there either. I know you have to get groceries, but I never see you there.

No! Wait! That must be wrong. The most recent Gallup poll tells me that you are half the people in the US. So I must be seeing you! But which half is you? Which is the half of us who are concerned about climate change? If I knew who you were, it would reassure me that I am not alone; that you are there.

A recent survey of 6000+ Americans showed most Americans underestimate the number of people concerned about climate by at least a factor of two. We underestimate because we don’t recognize you. If there were some way to recognize you, you and I could talk; we could bond; we could figure out how to bypass this president who doesn’t want to see us or see the data on climate impacts he is burying. If there was some way to recognize us, the half that are not us would realize they are not the majority; their politicians might even try to woo us; their businesses might even try to market to us.

We are not recognized because we have no symbol. It’s been almost 40 years since Dr. James Hansen of NASA told the US Congress of the perils of climate change and we still have no universally accepted symbol for our concern. In fact, although most climate organizations have some sort of symbol or icon for climate change, literally no two use the same symbol. That’s not true of just the US, but of the world as a whole.

Can you imagine the breast cancer awareness movement without the pink ribbon? Anti-war protests without the peace symbol? Recycling efforts succeeding without the green triangle symbol? Do you know how many times the Red Cross symbol has saved soldiers and medics from unfriendly fire?

Clearly, the climate movement needs a symbol. But, which one? There are tens of them out there. Some have even gained some acceptance, like the polar bear on an ice floe, or the blue earth icon. How do we choose? Clearly whichever way we choose, we need to do it quickly. We cannot afford to stand by and let this president bury us with his ignorance, nor his immorality. 

So I’m proposing that we skip the politically correct, consensus-building, everlasting polling process and immediately adopt an existing symbol that is already somewhat widely accepted. Let’s find a symbol now that is publicly available for use on our phones, our tablets, our emails, and can also be displayed de grandeur with minimal effort on walls, buildings, etc. at rallies, parades, and other civic events. Let’s adopt a symbol with an existing web presence and a reputable climate organization behind it. Let’s find a visually appealing symbol that tells us the truth about climate change without overwhelming us.

I know such a symbol exists. I already found it by simply googling “universally accepted symbol for climate change.” I’m speaking of the “Warming Stripes” symbol developed in 2018 by climatologist Dr. Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in the UK. As can be seen in the figure below, the global warming stripes are a visual representation of the change in average global surface temperature over the last 150 years, with each stripe representing a single year. As such, the Stripes present a striking visual of the recent rapid increase in warming without overwhelming us with data. Since 2018, the University of Reading has displayed the Stripes in nations all over the world — e.g., the wall in Cordoba, Spain, as shown below.

We may not all agree that the Stripes are the best climate change symbol, but I think we can all agree that we need a symbol now and that the Warming Stripes meet all the criteria presented above. 

Would you be willing to help me recognize you next week at the mall? Would you be willing to place a free Warming Stripes sticker (½ ” x 1”} on your purse, your watchband, or your phone so others that share your concern will be able to find you? If so, while supplies last, you can receive one or more free stickers by simply emailing to climateunity@gmail.com with your name, snail mail US address, number of stickers needed, and how you will use them. For your emails, presentations, corporate websites, etc., you can also obtain an electronic version of the Warming Stripes by accessing the Stripes website.

Together we will be a force!

By Walter Short