Clean facts about the climate clock - BusinessLine
Clean facts about the climate clock - The Hindu BusinessLine
Factoring in current emission trends, the Climate Clock indicates how quickly the Earth is approaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warning. It also shows CO2 emissions already emitted.
The Clock stands four-storery tall and 80 ft across at New York’s Union Square and warns us of the time left before the crisis turns critical.
In 2020, humanity was warned that we had seven years and 102 days to shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. This transition would be necessary if we are not to breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius danger mark.
On April 11, 2023, the time left showed by the Climate Clock was 6 years and 102 days. Similarly, the time shown to reach 2 degrees Celsius global warming was 24 years and 19 days.
Experts warn that once the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark is crossed then many of the harmful effects of climate change would become irreversible with long-lasting consequences for humankind and the planet.
The Climate Clock came up thanks to efforts of activists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd, art-fixer Katie Peyton Hofstadter, tech maestro Adrian Carpenter, and a supporting arm of leading scientists,
Taking the cue from New York, governments and civil-society from Sydney to Bangkok are now moving forward with plans to install Climate Clocks at city centres.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.