Climate change is an ongoing topic that has resulted in varied opinions and substantial debates both around the dinner table and within international politics. But what does it take for the world to recognize that the climate crisis is fast approaching? Maybe, in order to understand the weight of climate change, the human race needs to experience contamination from pollution on a deeply personal level. While no one has a crystal ball, there is a prediction for the precise date that change will become insufficient; change for the betterment of our planet before it will be too late. And this date is much sooner than most would have guessed.
Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd are two artists who are passionate about informing the public, and ultimately the world, about the current state of climate change. Their initial creation was a handheld climate clock, made for climate change activist Greta Thunberg before her appearance at the United Nations summit last year. This was only the start of their journey to motivate citizens to revaluate their actions that are continuing to harm earth.
For the last 20 years, the 62-foot-wide and 15-digit electronic metronome clock that faces union square in Manhattan has been an eye-catching art project in the city. While the clock is literally just telling time on a 24-hour cycle, many onlookers who are not familiar with the project believed it was measuring the acres of destroyed rainforests each year, or even calculating the world population.
On Saturday, September 19th, 2020, the message, “The Earth has a deadline,” appeared on the famous metronome clock, followed by the numbers, 7:103:15:40:07 ticking down years, days, hours, minutes and seconds – it was no longer an ordinary clock. The digital clock now illustrated the critical window for action in order to prevent the effects of global warming from taking a permanent and extremely life-altering turn. The artists are hoping that this initiative will continuously remind those that climate change is real and is happening now, and it is necessary for others to do their part and fight for the change that is needed.
In 2018, a report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel and United Nations informed the public that if the world continues at this rate, then global warming will likely reach 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052. They predict that if this situation occurs, there will be a great amount of damage to the environment at an estimated value of $54 trillion – for reference, that’s twelve zeros!
The climate clock also has its own website where you can find a digital version of the timepiece, the science behind the numbers, reports on climate change, and instructions of how to create your own affordable climate clock. Check out climateclock.world for more information on how you can make a difference.
Keep your eyes open! Golan and Boyd are taking the climate clock international with a goal of building a climate clock in every major city before the time runs out. Remind your leaders and fellow community members to act by using the hashtag #ActInTime, because it is time to stop the most significant countdown in the world.