Climate spiral

[6] The visualization graphic has since been expanded to represent other time-varying quantities such as atmospheric CO2 concentration,[3] carbon budget,[3] and arctic sea ice volume.

The relationship between current global temperatures and the internationally discussed target limits is also clear without much complex interpretation needed."

[17] Ria Misra wrote in Gizmodo that the graphic "lets the noise of tiny variations fade into the background while still showcasing, very simply, the undeniable trend".

[1][10] The first climate spiral portrayed data from HadCRUT4.4 from January 1850 – March 2016, graphing relative to the 1850-1900 mean temperature,[12] the same pre-industrial global average used in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report.

[4][19] Hawkins extended his two-dimensional spiral design to a three-dimensional version in which the graphic appears as an expanding cone-shaped structure.

[8] Hawkins' original climate spiral application (global average temperature change) has been expanded to represent other time-varying quantities such as atmospheric CO2 concentration,[3] carbon budget,[3] and arctic sea ice volume.

[7][8] The day of the climate spiral's first publication (9 May 2016), Brad Plumer wrote in Vox that the "mesmerizing" GIF was "one of the clearest visualizations of global warming" he had ever seen.

[16] In BusinessGreen, environmental journalist James Murray praised the graphic's "elegant simplicity", asserting that "the mistakes, misinterpretations, and misinformation contained in so many climate sceptic arguments are steamrollered by the straightforward force of this spiral".

[29] On 11 May, Chris Mooney wrote in The Washington Post that, with his "startling animation" Hawkins had "hit a grand slam—and not through some clever turn of phrase or some new metaphor or framing, but rather, through viral data visualization".