Climate clock in New York City warns all

On Sept. 19, the Climate Clock was unveiled in New York City’s Union Square for their Climate Week. Unlike a regular clock, this one probably will not be as useful for day-to-day purposes like being on time for a hot date or making sure your Jack’s Pizza does not get burnt.

The Climate Clock, which is a collaboration of artists, scientists and activists, carries more meaning. The project was led by Andrew Boyd and Gan Golan, who wanted to call attention to the importance of immediate action on climate change to a global audience. The clock, which is currently counting down from seven years and two months, is a reminder of that.

“The world is literally counting on us,” Golan said.

There are two numbers shown by the clock. The number in menacing red is a timer that counts down how long it will take to burn through our carbon budget in years, days, hours, minutes and seconds. The second, featured in a more friendly green, is actively tracking the percent of the world’s renewable energy resources. According to the Climate Clock webpage, this number must reach 100% before the deadline reaches 0 to keep the planet within its carbon budget and to transition to a sustainable future.

The budget is based on the planet reaching temperatures 1.5⁰C above preindustrial levels. It is advised by countless scientists, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ), not to break through the threshold as this would bring global catastrophes to a tipping point. Consequences like increasing variability in weather and greater intensity and frequency of natural disasters that have been growing over the years will become irreversible.

The clock numbers were calculated by the Mercator Research Institute of Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) using data from the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report. This report found that a carbon dioxide budget of 420 Gt of CO2 gives us a 67% chance to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.

The MCC says that the carbon budget is based off the “linear relationship between the cumulative emissions and the temperature rise.” This does not mean the earth will be 1.5 degrees C warmer at the exact point the carbon budget is used up and those at MCC expect a time lag between emissions and temperature. The clock balances the science behind the carbon budget and the symbolic call to action.

There are notable assumptions made by MCC to reach this number. One is that they assumed annual emissions in following years will be close to those in 2017, while numbers have shown emissions are still rising. Because of this, the time to act would be less than the clock portrays. They also explain that it is unlikely that the earth warms at a linear rate due to various potential irreversible tipping points.

“While the Carbon Clock appears to be a precise measurement of the time left to ensure climate protection, many uncertainty factors remain, such as different definitions of the 1.5 Celsius target as well as different assumptions about the climate sensitivity, the actually attained degree of global warming, and the future development of other greenhouse gases,” the MCC says on their website.

Despite uncertainty in the exact timing, there is no doubt that swift decision making must happen by not just governments and activists, but everyone. The Climate Clock addresses this by making the project coordinated at the local and international level. Not only do they
encourage you to make your own clock in your area but they also have unveiled similar clocks in Berlin and Oslo. They are also planning on revealing one in Paris. If you are interested in participating, the Climate Clock website has a DIY video on making your own climate clock.
“Climate Change is already here. This clock is not an alarm clock saying, in seven years it will ring and we need to wake up! It’s more like a stopwatch already running that we have to keep pace with. We need action today, tomorrow and the day after that. Let’s get moving. Every second counts. We need to act in time,” Golan said.