We spoke to the person who developed the climate figure everyone is talking about

A few weeks ago, the IPCC presented the report that synthesizes eight years of work and there is an image that, since its publication, has not stopped being shared in social media and presentations. Anyone reading this knows what it is. It is a visualization that shows global warming through several generations, a powerful image that exemplifies the severity and speed of current climate change.

The visual storyteller Arlene Birt (Nebraska, 1980) is responsible for this figure that has gone around the world. She is also a teacher and leads her own consultancy. Her first internship was with UN Environment Programme and in the last year and a half she has had the enormous responsibility of translating thousands of IPCC data and scientific pages into images that can be understood by the general public.

We spoke with her to learn more about the work process and the importance of images as an element of environmental education and a driver for action.

How did you manage to collaborate with the IPCC?

I was introduced to the opportunity via experts in climate communication research (who I was connected to as I explored doing a PhD at the intersection of information visualization, climate communication, and behavior change). 

The figures have the enormous power to synthesize a lot of information in a more enjoyable and simple form. How is the process of creating a new visual narrative, such as the ones you have done for the IPCC, for example?

I worked with the IPCC Synthesis Report Technical Support Unit, a team that supports the authors and the process. I was introduced to the opportunity via experts in climate communication research (who I was connected to as I explored doing a PhD at the intersection of information visualization, climate communication, and behavior change). 

My work with the IPCC Synthesis Report was intensive collaborative design with more 60 authors, as well as 195 governments who provided input and approval of the 24 figures we developed for the report. 

Because the content of each of the figures in the Synthesis Report must be fully tracable to information and data contained in the other reports in the AR6 cycle, I started from what information was available, and what the authors felt would be most important to bring up into the Synthesis Report.

I joined the IPCC Synthesis Report in September of 2021, shortly before the first draft of the report was sent out for government and expert review. After that we had 2 additional major milestones of government input. Each government review resulted in thousands of comments on the figures for authors and I to take into consideration. Evolving throughout the process, many of the figures went through 20-30 different iterations as we sought to clarify messages, structure the information, and ensure scientific accuracy. 

How many IPCC figures have you worked on?

I managed 24 figures throughout the Synthesis Report. An additional designer, Meeyoung Ha, joined about 8 months ago to help finish the process. 

Because all IPCC information contained in the Synthesis Report has to have full traceability to other reports of the AR6 cycle, some of the figures I worked with built upon figures that were developed in other reports of the AR6 cycle. In addition to synthesizing concepts together (from multiple other reports in AR6), I tried to bring clarity to the content of the figures, design them in a way that tells a narrative across the set of figures in the Synthesis Report, and aid non-specialists in understanding the figures. 

One of the most shared figures from the latest IPCC report has been the one showing global warming over several generations.

Yes! Of all the Synthesis Report figures, SPM.1c (climate generations) is the closest to my heart. This figure is the most in alignment with my goals to speak to non-specialists, particularly because it uses visual techniques of emotional impact and humanizes the data. This builds upon Ed Hawkins amazing climate stripes and of course many authors diligent guidance on science.

The idea for aligning generations came from an ongoing series of work that I started in 2019 –before I started working with IPCC– to align human lifespans with scientific graphs on climate (including IPCC AR5 graphs). The aim is to help us non-experts see how this seemingly-abstract future data actually relates to us and our families. For me, I have an emotional reaction when I see how my mother, myself, and my daughter are all living in very different worlds throughout our lifespans.

The report was approved in Switzerland after a week of negotiation between authors and governments. Were you also present?

Yes, I was present throughout the week of approval. It was a very intensive session – many long days (even going overnight as the session expanded past its scheduled timeframe).

Texts often undergo changes during negotiations. Has the same happened with the figures?

The figures did not change significantly during the approval process. Some minor edits –for clarification– were made on a minority of figures.

Have you ever had parts of figures censored or changed that you disagreed with?

Over the past year and a half, there have been decisions that the author team made to highlight specific aspects of the report content. Because of this, some figures that were in development were dropped to focus efforts on the most critical information to convey through the figures, but this is of course very different than censorship. 

Because IPCC processes are entirely tied to the science, it’s a very close collaboration between myself as a designer and the author-scientists. There were ideas I had early in the process that could not be integrated due to the way the scientific data is structured.  

I would have loved to have some of the figures a bit less complex: in order to make them more clear for non-specialists. This may be a future project I undertake independently. But apart from the accessibility of communication, nothing related to content was censored or changed in ways I didn’t agree with.

How many visual storytellers have worked in this sixth cycle?

Several designers have been involved in the other reports in the AR6 cycle (around two per report). Angela Morelli of InfoDesignLab is a talented and inspirational information designer in this space. And I’m not sure how many of the other designers consider themselves ‘visual storytellers’.

On the Synthesis Report, another designer, Meeyoung Ha, joined about 8 months ago to help finish the process. 

Many collaborators have also been involved in specific figures, such as Ed Hawkins with his climate stripes and Kaj-Ivar van der Wijst in generating base graphs from climate models. It’s a true collaborative effort.

IPCC reports often have complex language that can alienate non-expert audiences. One of your goals is to break down that gap. How do you do that?

Indeed, IPCC reports are intended for policymakers, and because the reports are approved by governments and climate experts, the reports also tend to be focused on an expert level of understanding of climate science.

I’ve tried to help less-expert viewers navigate the figures through the use of handwritten-style annotations and arrows. I’ve also incorporated icons for common graph axis to try to help viewers at-a-glance understand what is being measured. The titles and labels of all figures were carefully negotiated between the scientist-authors and myself: while we tried to use non-technical language as much as possible, on some figures this is easier to do than others.

The figures are always in English. Will they be available in other languages?

All the figures will be translated to all 6 official UN languages for the final publication. It can take several weeks for this process). Additional language translations are usually made available by individual countries that are members of IPCC.

In the age of technology and mobile devices, figures are a valuable environmental education resource. Have you noticed an increased interest in this discipline in recent years?

Definitely the value of creativity is being more appreciated when it comes to communicating complex and technical topics. In terms of infographics, while these have been popular for quite a while, the discipline is maturing. There’s increasingly a focus on how visuals can be made interactive for audiences, how narrative can be incorporated into visuals, and how data can be put into context to truly communicate to –and even motivate– audiences.  

Have you always been interested in visual storytelling focused on environmental issues?

Yes! While it was a gradual evolution during my undergraduate studies, the intersection of visual storytelling with social and environmental communication has been a passion of mine for many years now. There’s much to continue to explore on this topic: including how visuals can relate to behavior change.  

Tell us about your other projects beyond the IPCC.

I’m a professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design– and am looking forward to getting back into the teaching I do in Creative Entrepreneurship: helping students to understand how to use their creative powers to be change-makers.

My team and I at Background Stories continue to be busy with a lot of infodesign projects to communicate complex social and environmental topics to non-specialist audiences across the US, Europe, and the UK. Some current projects include the Minnesota Department of Health, an international humanitarian organization, a sustainable energy policy non-profit, an international seafood sustainability foundation, EIT Food, sustainable agriculture organizations, a sustainable construction firm, a green bank, and more.

What other visual storytellers/infographers on climate change and biodiversity would you recommend to follow and why? 

Angela Morelli of InfoDesignLab was instrumental in figures in some of the earlier reports of this AR6 cycle. And there are many other designers working at this intersection. I’m sorry I can’t recall more specific names right now.

You can also read this interview in Spanish.