Climate · London

The Colour of London's Parks

Seven photo pairs from London's parks show a change that is easy to miss within a single year — and hard to ignore across decades.

By Jacob Thrän · 17 August 2026 · @jthran.bsky.social

Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens

Cycling around London this summer, I realised that the main way in which I personally notice climate change is the colour of London's parks. I also noticed that it's hard to keep track of long-term changes because the change within a year is often not noticeable.

The Albert Memorial surrounded by green grass — 3 September 1988

The Albert Memorial surrounded by scorched grass — 3 September 1988

Albert Memorial, 1988 & 2026

Regent's Park

I figured that if this is the main way of noticing climate change for me, then the same might be true for a lot of other Londoners. However, like me, they might also struggle with envisioning decade-spanning changes.

Regent's Park surrounded by scorched grass — 26 August 1987

Regent's Park, 26 August 1987 & 11 August 2026

Achilles Statue, Hyde Park

To demonstrate to myself and maybe other Londoners the change that parks had gone through, I scanned the internet for old pictures of London's parks. This was surprisingly difficult but geograph.org.uk proved to be a great open-source place for this.

The Achilles statue surrounded by green grass — 27 July 1987

The Achilles statue surrounded by scorched grass — 27 July 1987

Achilles statue, 27 July 1987 & 11 August 2026

Primrose Hill

I then cycled to each location to recreate the photo (using my terrible phone camera, sorry).

Between the two pictures below lie only 20 years but those 20 years have seen more than a third of all ever-produced GHG emissions being released.

Primrose Hill surrounded by green grass — 9 August 2006

Primrose Hill surrounded by scorched grass — 9 August 2006

Primrose Hill, 9 August 2006 & 11 August 2026

The Serpentine, Hyde Park

I have been told that this country measures everything climate-related against the 1976 heatwave. I eventually managed to find a picture from then, and even so the grass does not look as healthy as in other years, it appears markedly better than today.

The Serpentine surrounded by green grass — August 1976

The Serpentine surrounded by scorched grass — August 1976

The Serpentine, August 1976 & August 2026

Grosvenor Gardens

Is this the ultimate proof of climate change? No. That's what climate scientists and temperature recordings are for. It just shows one of the ways in which our everyday lives can be affected.

Grosvenor Gardens surrounded by scorched grass — 28 August 1998

Grosvenor Gardens, 28 August 1998 & 11 August 2026

Hyde Park

The reason for mitigating climate change is usually not some apocalyptic scenario but simply the fact that inaction is more expensive. While most of the costs are hidden away in far-away flood-defences or reservoirs, these photos show today's visible costs.

Hyde Park surrounded by scorched grass — 4 August 1971

Hyde Park, 4 August 1971 & 11 August 2026