Climate Clock in NYC Is Counting Down to July 21, 2029. Here’s What It Means for Our Planet

Installed on the face of a glass building on East 14th Street overlooking Union Square Park in Manhattan, is an 80-foot-wide clock blinking a number in red. This glowing red number is not the reading of an analog clock, neither is it a reading of some barometer. Rather, the number displays the little time humanity has, to save itself from the tightening clenches of global warming. As billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide are spewed out onto Earth each year, NYC's Climate Clock reminds humans that they have until July 21, 2029 - just over 4 years - to do something about this grim scenario.

The state-of-the-art clock is the brainchild of climate activists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd, art fixer Katie Peyton Hofstadter, tech maestro Adrian Carpenter, and a team of scientists, according to the official website. "The 1.5-degree threshold is the point of no return that science tells us is likely to make the worst climate impacts inevitable," the Climate Clock crew says. “The clock will continue to run down until it hits zero, at which time our carbon budget would be depleted and the likelihood of devastating global climate impacts would be very high,” the website warns. “We must take action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions toward zero as quickly as possible within this critical time window for action.”

“We have known about this crisis for 40 years, and for almost as long we’ve known about many of the key solutions,” said Golan, according to Fast Company. “We have to hold our governments and corporations to the deadlines that science has clearly shown us are necessary to preserve a livable planet. Our message is that while time is short, it is not too late. In fact, it will never be too late for us to fight for people and the planet," he added. The activist points out that even if we surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius, which we are already getting closer to, we can bring down the global temperature. But, the longer we delay, the slower the changes happen, and ultimately it gets harder to save the planet. "Our best window of action is the next five years," Golan said.

The 1.5 degree Celsius threshold was set by the Paris Agreement in 2015, a treaty in which 195 nations pledged to tackle climate change, per BBC. Although climate expert Leah Stokes said she believed that humans can blow way over 1.5. Scientists attribute this exacerbating global warming mainly to human behavior such as industrialization. Industrialization triggered the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which are now rapidly warming up the planet. As the clock threshold approaches early 2029, Earth remains at threat of getting enveloped by layers of harmful gases. Ice sheets will melt, coral reefs will disappear, and humans will start dying as a result of poison dissolving in the air. But there’s good news too.

Scientists have made considerable progress in curbing one type of pollution in the air, as per AP News. In a study, researchers worked on reducing aerosol pollution. Aerosols are tiny smoky particles called aerosols that neutralize the effect of burning fires, which mask the effects of rising temperatures and help in cooling the planet. Still and all, as the clock ticks on the New York building. There are billions who can help save the planet. And so, the possibility that humans would be able to extricate themselves from the prison of extreme carbon emission, seems brighter. There is hope, it’s in each one of us.