Famous New York clock counts down to the end of the world

The clock, located in Union Square, now shows "the most important number in the world," the authors of the project say. And the inscription - The Earth has a deadline - today carries a special meaning. The newspaper writes about it The New York Times.

Union Square houses a massive 15-digit digital clock familiar to many New Yorkers. They showed the time in their own unique style - they counted the hours, minutes and seconds from and to midnight. This confused many residents who did not understand what was actually displayed on the screen.

For over 20 years this metronome has been one of the most famous and obscure projects in the field of public art. For years, passers-by, not understanding how he worked, assumed that he was measuring something other than time. For example, how many acres of rainforest are destroyed annually, the number of people on the planet, some have even suggested that the numbers on the screen are related to Pi.

But on Saturday, September 19, the metronome has an important new mission. Now, instead of measuring 24-hour cycles, it counts down the time until the moment when, according to the authors of the idea, climatic changes will enter a catastrophic and irreversible phase.

The idea belongs to artists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd.

According to their plan, starting at 15:20 Saturday, messages began to appear on the display, such as: "The Earth has a deadline" (from English. The Earth has a deadline). Then came the numbers - 7: 103: 15: 40: 07, representing the years, days, hours, minutes and seconds before this deadline for the irreversibility of the ecological catastrophe.

This number, according to the authors of the project, is based on the estimates of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin.

“This is our way of shouting that number off the rooftops,” Golan said before the countdown began. "The world is literally counting on us."

On the subject: Extreme heat: in 50 years, billions of people will be in unsuitable climate

Thus, the artists want to draw attention to the problems of global warming. They themselves call their work "Climate Clock". The project will be presented in the city until September 27, before the end of the climatic week.

The watch is on display in a building at 14th Street in One Union Square South. The authors of this project say that their goal is to organize a permanent exhibition of watches - in this place or elsewhere.

Golan noted that he came up with the idea to publicly illustrate the urgent need to combat climate change about two years ago, shortly after the birth of his daughter. He invited Boyd, a Lower East Side activist, to work with him on this project.

The artists said they had previously created a portable climate clock for Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, ahead of her speech last year at the UN Climate Summit.

The purpose of creating the large-scale clocks that New Yorkers can see today was partly influenced by other clocks designed to draw public attention to certain issues. For example, "Doomsday Clock", which counts down time to the end of the world. And also the "National Debt Counter" - a scoreboard installed on one of the buildings in Manhattan, displaying a real-time estimate of the total US debt.

Golan and Boyd decided that the climate clock would have the greatest impact if displayed in a public place and presented as a work of art.

“This is perhaps the most important number in the world,” Boyd said.

“The climate clock will remind the world every day of how close we are to the edge of the abyss,” said Stephen Ross, chairman of the board of development company One Union Square South, where the clock is located.

He added: "This initiative will encourage everyone to join us in the fight for the future of our planet."

On the subject: By 2100, half of the world's beaches will disappear due to climate change

Golan and Boyd created a website to describe the project. climateclock.world... On it you can find a detailed explanation of what the numbers indicated on the scoreboard mean. The resource also provides a link to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body that evaluates scientific data related to climate change.

A report published in 2018 said global warming is likely to lead to an average air temperature of 1,5 ° C to pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052 if it continues at the current pace. This level of warming is projected to increase damage to many ecosystems and an estimated $ 54 trillion in economic damage, the report said.

The site also tracks the growing percentage of global renewable energy production. And he gives directions on how to create a small, inexpensive watch like the one given to Thunberg.

“You can't argue with science,” Boyd said. "You just have to reckon with it."