The impact of global warming has been laid bare in a worrying new graphic showing how much temperatures have risen in Scotland over the last century.
The worrying new data, developed by a leading climate scientist, allows people living in the UK and across the world to witness how average annual temperatures have spiked since 1884.
It comes as last year was the hottest year on record, with the mercury rising to 35C in Scotland on July 19 2022 and 40.3C in England on the same day.
The striking graphic shows a series of 'warming stripes', with blue indicating cooler-than-average years and red showing years that were hotter than average. The stark band of deep red stripes on the right-hand side of the graphic show the rapid heating in recent decades.
Created by Professor Ed Hawkins in partnership with UK charity Carbon Copy - using data from the Met Office - the stripes are a stark reminder of the effect of climate change.
The changes in climate that Scotland is already experiencing are projected to continue and intensify. Average temperatures will increase across all seasons, while typical summers will be warmer and drier, according to Adaption Scotland.
Typical winters will also be milder and wetter, sea levels will rise and there will be reduced frost and snowfall.
Globally, the number of disasters caused by weather, climate or water extremes over the last 50 years has increased by a factor of five, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.
Scotland’s ambitious climate change legislation sets a target date for net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.
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."
People in Scotland are now able to download their stripes, as well as find out more about carbon emissions and climate action plans in their local area.
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 Scotland shows unprecedented temperatures in the last 12 months.
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."
You can check out the warming stripes here.
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