It's #FigureFriday, so let's chat about my favorite subject: color palettes 🎨 for climate science visualization! (1/12)

First, why is it important? Put simply: a beautiful figure can communicate your results more effectively than text. It can make a figure more understandable to a public audience. So it is worth it to put care into your figure design. (2/12)
First, if you're plotting up climate model data, especially anomalies, I highly recommend Cynthia Brewer's palettes on ColorBrewer. BrBG is my go-to for precip anomalies, and RdBu is a natural for temperature. (3/12) https://t.co/FiCgxyahIp
The sequential palettes are also great if you've got data going in one direction. Here's the Brewer "blues" at work for a figure showing LGM T change. (4/12)
But what about line graphs? If you are paleoclimatologist like me, you are probably plotting a bunch of squiggly lines. For this, I suggest designing a palette for your *entire paper* ahead on time, and then plot stuff in this palette in every figure. (5/12)
My favorite tool for palette design is Coolors (thanks @talia_and for the tip!). This awesome app helps you design palettes with colors that harmonize. (6/12) https://t.co/HIirTdAgKd
For example, here is the Coolors palette I designed for our Review paper in @ScienceMagazine. I wanted to use bold colors that also harmonized with Brewer colors for the global maps in the paper. (7/12)
Coolors allows you to dynamically check color-blind compatibility, but I also love Color Oracle for this, which flips everything on your computer screen to color-blind views. (8/12) https://t.co/w2XREsQeXD
Here's a figure from our Past Climates review on the Coolors palette, in real color, and then what it looks it for folks with deuteranopia (red-green) color blindness. (9/12)
I don't always choose bold colors...sometimes I'm interested in softer looks...like here is a blue-brown gradient palette I'm working on for an upcoming paper. It just depends on what suits your work. (10/12)
Another source for color ideas is cpt-city. Many of these palettes are for graphic design, but it has the NCAR NCL palettes, cmocean palettes from @thyngkm, various semi- and continuous- versions of the Brewer palettes, and many other jewels (11/12) https://t.co/1RYQH1iT0i
Anyway, hope these tips help! What are your favorite color palettes? I'm always looking for good ideas. (12/12) 🌟

More from Climate change

@smarzeli @ianrowley677 @chimera414 @BrknMan @ancistroneura @sueytonius @swcrisis @eloarefab @BailFund_Brawl @IngersolRobert @OscarsWild1 @RuleByLogic @KCTaz @Kenneth72712993 @alshalloway @ClimatePatriot @joetheatheistp @insane_voice @TheDisproof @Ceist8 @BradPKeyes @Fauntleroy1934 @DawnTJ90 @Jamz129 @JsharkJill @Tangomitteckel @joedieseldodge @BadgersNo @fknsavages27 @SimonPearson961 @JoeTheAtheist @CMorrisonEsq @maya_phd @CymaticWave @Schtickery @ClimateDepot @stevenmosher @Willard1951 @Tokyo_Tom @jc_Craze @DanCady @PolAnimalAus @ZombiePiano @SimonMaxfield8 @CrangusShish @Gladfly1 @AtomsksSanakan @leonardjcohen @FrankWi74044551 [1/14] It is very sad that @NatGeo is now publishing such disinformation. The article is lies.

The Earth is greening, thanks to elevated CO2 -- especially in arid

@ianrowley677 @chimera414 @BrknMan @ancistroneura @sueytonius @swcrisis @eloarefab @BailFund_Brawl @IngersolRobert @OscarsWild1 @RuleByLogic @KCTaz @Kenneth72712993 @alshalloway @ClimatePatriot @joetheatheistp @insane_voice @TheDisproof @Ceist8 @BradPKeyes @Fauntleroy1934 @DawnTJ90 @Jamz129 @JsharkJill @Tangomitteckel @joedieseldodge @BadgersNo @fknsavages27 @SimonPearson961 @JoeTheAtheist @CMorrisonEsq @maya_phd @CymaticWave @Schtickery @ClimateDepot @stevenmosher @Willard1951 @Tokyo_Tom @jc_Craze @DanCady @PolAnimalAus @ZombiePiano @SimonMaxfield8 @CrangusShish @Gladfly1 @AtomsksSanakan @leonardjcohen @FrankWi74044551 @NatGeo [2/14] NASA measures it, from

@ianrowley677 @chimera414 @BrknMan @ancistroneura @sueytonius @swcrisis @eloarefab @BailFund_Brawl @IngersolRobert @OscarsWild1 @RuleByLogic @KCTaz @Kenneth72712993 @alshalloway @ClimatePatriot @joetheatheistp @insane_voice @TheDisproof @Ceist8 @BradPKeyes @Fauntleroy1934 @DawnTJ90 @Jamz129 @JsharkJill @Tangomitteckel @joedieseldodge @BadgersNo @fknsavages27 @SimonPearson961 @JoeTheAtheist @CMorrisonEsq @maya_phd @CymaticWave @Schtickery @ClimateDepot @stevenmosher @Willard1951 @Tokyo_Tom @jc_Craze @DanCady @PolAnimalAus @ZombiePiano @SimonMaxfield8 @CrangusShish @Gladfly1 @AtomsksSanakan @leonardjcohen @FrankWi74044551 [3/14] @NatGeo used to be better. In 2009 they reported, "Vast swaths of North Africa are getting noticeably lusher due to warming temperatures, new satellite images show, suggesting a possible boon for people living in the driest part of the

@ianrowley677 @chimera414 @BrknMan @ancistroneura @sueytonius @swcrisis @eloarefab @BailFund_Brawl @IngersolRobert @OscarsWild1 @RuleByLogic @KCTaz @Kenneth72712993 @alshalloway @ClimatePatriot @joetheatheistp @insane_voice @TheDisproof @Ceist8 @BradPKeyes @Fauntleroy1934 @DawnTJ90 @Jamz129 @JsharkJill @Tangomitteckel @joedieseldodge @BadgersNo @fknsavages27 @SimonPearson961 @JoeTheAtheist @CMorrisonEsq @maya_phd @CymaticWave @Schtickery @ClimateDepot @stevenmosher @Willard1951 @Tokyo_Tom @jc_Craze @DanCady @PolAnimalAus @ZombiePiano @SimonMaxfield8 @CrangusShish @Gladfly1 @AtomsksSanakan @leonardjcohen @FrankWi74044551 [4/14] @NewScientist reported the "remarkable environmental turnaround," including a “quite spectacular regeneration of vegetation,” and "a 70 per cent increase in yields of local cereals such as sorghum and millet in one province in recent

@ianrowley677 @chimera414 @BrknMan @ancistroneura @sueytonius @swcrisis @eloarefab @BailFund_Brawl @IngersolRobert @OscarsWild1 @RuleByLogic @KCTaz @Kenneth72712993 @alshalloway @ClimatePatriot @joetheatheistp @insane_voice @TheDisproof @Ceist8 @BradPKeyes @Fauntleroy1934 @DawnTJ90 @Jamz129 @JsharkJill @Tangomitteckel @joedieseldodge @BadgersNo @fknsavages27 @SimonPearson961 @JoeTheAtheist @CMorrisonEsq @maya_phd @CymaticWave @Schtickery @ClimateDepot @stevenmosher @Willard1951 @Tokyo_Tom @jc_Craze @DanCady @PolAnimalAus @ZombiePiano @SimonMaxfield8 @CrangusShish @Gladfly1 @AtomsksSanakan @leonardjcohen @FrankWi74044551 @newscientist [5/14] Note that sorghum & millet are C4 plants. It was once thought that, unlike C3 plants, C4 plants would benefit little from rising CO2 levels. But C4 crops are favored for their drought-hardiness, &eCO2 is especially beneficial under dry
The forests of Russia, Mongolia, Canada, Scandinavia and the US will experience unprecedented destructive heat by 2029 with staggering consequences for life on Earth.


Feedback loops created by permafrost melt & wildfire destruction represent just a few of the terrifying effects of climate change on boreal forest ecosystems, which are particularly at risk to rising temperatures. ⚠️🔥

https://t.co/zZNKrRnqoZ

Massive wildfires are already here.


More forest fires are burning in the Arctic in recent years than any time in the last 10,000 years.

🔺these massive arctic fires are showing worrying signs of becoming a vicious cycle

Wildfire-related carbon releases from permafrost regions will quadruple within decades.

Arctic wildfires, impacted by global warming, are in turn contributing to more climate breakdown.

🔺An increase in boreal & tundra fires in the future will enhance permafrost thawing.

You May Also Like