A clock that shines from the side of a building in Manhattan, counting down every second, has brought attention to the global warming crisis the world is facing.
Created by artists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd, the clock was revealed in September as a symbol of the seriousness of global warming.
For some, this clock doesn’t mean anything to them. It’s just a clock in New York counting down time. For others though, this clock is an everyday reminder to them of how little time they really have left before their own lives will be at risk.
There is no exact date to global warming. However, multiple sources show that there is only around a decade left to slow global warming.
According to the United Nations, eleven years is all that is left to slow global warming before it becomes too severe.
Global warming is the general increase in temperature of the planet because of greenhouse gases. This has been affecting humans for many years, and is now reaching a critical point.
According to National Geographic, “Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are dying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace.”
Many humans have gone about their everyday lives, not truly realizing how many greenhouse gases they have put into the air.
“China and India have had a big negative impact, but I think the United States is really the country that should be taking a lead and hasn’t,” Environmental Science teacher Jeff Bakunas said. “We were the ones that grew dirty for a long time, and now that other countries are trying to be more like the United States, we’re not really taking a lead in teaching them how to lead to the next revolution.”
However, multiple countries have started to work to improve their country to help decrease the effects that greenhouse gases have caused.
“France has done really well, Denmark’s been doing really well, Amsterdam’s been doing really well,” Bakunas said. “A lot of the European countries have really done a good job, and there’s also a lot of third world countries that [have] to grow cleaner because they really see the effects of climate change as their shores are starting to shrink.”
Even with all of the problems that have come from greenhouse gases, there are many ways that people can help to make a small impact and send a strong message.The clock is just a reminder that people need to find ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
“There’s always a lot of really good things that you can do, especially [for the] environment, with recycling and starting to make better choices with your energy,” Bakunas said.
However there are bigger ways to make an impact on helping to slow global warming. “The most important thing is that nothing [will] change unless we change policies,” Bakunas said. “The more pressure we put on people to change, the better off we are going to be.”
Even though the world is running out of time to turn the earth around, humanity has all of the tools they need to start making a change. From recycling to installing solar panels, there are so many simple changes. If people want to make the biggest impact on global warming, though, focus on speaking about the importance of this issue to politicians.