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The increased likelihood of extreme heat events is a profoundly important aspect of our global climate emergency, and yet the link between weather and climate remains a difficult subject to communicate. Here, I focus on a graphic that is on its way to becoming viral: Warming Stripes. Warming Stripes use a simple two-colour spectral palette – tints of blue and red, long a feature of weather maps – to signal relative yearly temperatures. Eschewing the argument that such hues have a universal affective capacity, and reflecting on its designer's comments on the potential introduction of a new colour, purple, to indicate extreme heat, I argue that it is as a constructed, learned association between temperature and colour that there is further potential for this visual to intimate a warning. That is, while the potential introduction of purple signals a breach regarding accustomed climatic conditions, what is also breached is our capacity to maintain a standard of measurement by which to capture such conditions. I expand on this argument via reference to a prior of just such a breach, as a forecasted heatwave prompted the Australian Bureau of Meteorology to introduce a new colour to the hot end of its temperature scale: purple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Marcia Bjornerud's autobiography 'Turning to Stone', which explores her deep connection with geology and its broader implications. Topics include the challenges faced by geologists in bridging fieldwork with academic and industry demands, the personal and professional impacts of sexism in the field, and the book's broader reflections on humanity's relationship with the Earth amidst contemporary socio-environmental issues.

The late artist Per Kirkeby's preoccupation with geology is on display in a new exhibition.