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Image: Warming Stripes in Bolu, Türkiye.

I’m a final-year PhD student in the Department of Earth Sciences. My studies involve assessing water management approaches from different countries, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with the current state of Türkiye, examining historical and projected climate changes (particularly drought analyses in Türkiye and the wider eastern Mediterranean area), and understanding drought as a multidimensional phenomenon influenced by climatic, societal, and cultural factors. My research aims to propose water management strategy, particularly for drought, in Türkiye to effectively address current and future climate challenges.
As part of June 21's #ShowYourStripes day, a unique opportunity to raise awareness about climate change using the iconic ‘warming stripes’ graphics by Ed Hawkins showing temperature trends over the last 100+ years, the warming stripes for Türkiye were projected onto the Bolu Municipality building from 8 pm to 7 am. In addition to the warming stripes, meteorological records held in Bolu by Turkish MetOffice since 1929 indicate that Bolu has experienced a warming of over 1°C in the last century. This projection aims to increase awareness and foster knowledge about climate change among the local community. Bolu Municipality and I collaborated on this project to highlight the importance of climate awareness and its impact on my hometown. After successful projections – like in many other places, London, and New York, the news were published in municipality’s own webpage and other local news with photos and videos as well as short description of what these stripes mean and show to us.

For the next round in 2025, I plan to expand these projections to different cities, with a particular focus on Istanbul, potentially using iconic locations such as the Bosporus Bridge or Dolmabahçe Palace. As part of my Ph.D. studies, I have rescued and digitized many meteorological parameters from old Ottoman observation books recorded in Istanbul (Constantinople) from the 1850s. This work has provided Istanbul with long-term temperature and rainfall data since the mid-19th century, which will be instrumental in raising awareness about climate change in Türkiye.