In Union Square, a large clock is keeping track of the years we have left until climate damage is irreversible. The Metronome, a 62-foot-wide 15-digit electronic clock, has been one of New York city’s most notorious public projects for more than 20 years.
On September 19th, the clock adopted a new mission! Instead of measuring the previously counted 24-hour cycle, it is now measuring the critical window for action that is necessary to prevent the permanent effects of global warming before it reaches an area of no return. This project was created by Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd, two artists dedicated to social change.
Exactly at 3:20 p.m on Saturday, messages including “The Earth has a deadline” began to appear, on the display, accompanied by the numbers — 7:103:15:40:07, which represent the years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until that critical deadline. They are “arguably the most important number in the world,” as said by Mr. Boyd. The approximate calculations were based on the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change located in Berlin, Germany.
The Climate Climate clock, as called by the two artists, was displayed on the 14th Street building, One Union Square South, through Sept. 27, to the end of Climate Week. Currently, the creators are arranging for the clock to be displayed in another significant location
Previously, the artists made a climate clock for the well-known Swedish teen climate activist, Greta Thunberg, before her memorable appearance at the United Nations Climate Action Summit last year.
The idea to make the climate click was largely influenced by the infamous Doomsday Clock, maintained online by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and by the National Debt Clock in Bryant Park located in Manhattan. The artist believed that the clock would be the most impactful if it was located in a well-known public place, like the Doomsday Clock, and been presented as an artwork.
To further understand the project, people can access the artists’ website, climateclock.world. The website tracks the rising percentage of the world’s energy supplied from renewable sources and provides directions on how to build small, low-cost clocks like the one created for Ms. Thunberg. The website also gives an in-depth description and describes the significance of the clock and even a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body that assesses the science related to climate change. In summary, the reports say that global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C over preindustrial levels between 2030 and 2052 if the damage continues at the current rate. This level of warming is projected to increase damage to many ecosystems and cause an estimated $54 trillion in damage, the report says.
Overall, this clock is a great reminder for the necessary reckoning or wake up call the world needs regarding climate issues. These issues need to be treated practically and not as though they are optional or only for “climate enthusiasts” or environmentalists, nor as a political agenda or idea. As said best by Mr. Boyd, “You can’t argue with science. You just have to reckon with it.”
Source:
“A New York Clock That Told Time Now Tells the Time Remaining.” The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/arts/design/climate-clock-metronome-nyc.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 12 Oct. 2020.
