The CO2 emissions dropped during the lockdown in Spring 2020 but, sadly, they have bounced back by June. Although the values of emissions have risen, this is proof that change can happen if humanity adopts rapid and radical actions. The human brain has evolved to pay attention to immediate threats and underestimates those which are more complex, such as climate change. This translates as an obstacle in the fight against the climate crisis but which Nordic’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat wants to overcome. To do so, the newspaper joined hands with agency TBWA\Helsinki and launched the “Climate Crisis Font.”

The font is the Helsinki-based company’s way to actually show people how climate change looks like. It is based on the National Snow and Ice Data Center‘s (NSIDC) data on Arctic sea ice from 1979 to 2019 and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change‘s (IPPC) predictions all the way to 2050. The font is interactive and, based on current forecasts, it shows how the ice is expected to shrink because of climate change.

As such, the font will change its weight depending on the year: The heaviest one stands as a representation for the minimum extent of the Arctic sea ice in 1979 while the lightest symbolizes the 2050 predictions when the sea ice is expected to have shrunk to only 30% of the 1979 extent.

“Our mission is to make complex matters more comprehensible for our readers. What the past year has taught us is that humankind is much more adept to act when faced with an abrupt threat such as COVID-19. So when it comes to more complex issues such as climate change we need to find different ways to concretize the urgency”, says Kaius Niemi, Editor-in-Chief from Helsingin Sanomat.

“These kinds of new methods of journalistic storytelling complement our recent investments in data journalism. Yet, we don’t just want to keep it to ourselves, which is why we are giving it out for free and hope to see it in use elsewhere as well”, adds Tuomas Jääskeläinen, the Art Director of Helsingin Sanomat.

Every headline, article, or comment written with this type of font will highlight climate change’s impact on the Arctic sea ice extent. The newspaper itself has already used the Climate Crisis Font in some climate-themed articles published between 1979 and 2020. The font is available for free on the webpage supporting the initiative and it works for almost all languages based on the Latin alphabet.

Credits:

Client: Helsingin Sanomat

Agency: TBWA\Helsinki