A World Record Attempt Assembling Climate Clock To Remind People The Clock Is Ticking - Lets Act In Time

Climate clock is a clock that tells us how much time is left before we touch global warming of 1.5oC. The time shown depends on our carbon budget and current rate of carbon emissions across the world. Most people will be unaware of the fact the time left before we touch global warming of 1.5oC, from where irreversible climate change starts, is only about 6.5 years.

The world seems to be oblivious of this fact, also oblivious to the fact that it is only a matter of time before their lives get affected by catastrophic climate change.

Climate clock

A massive public awareness about climate change is the need of the hour. Energy Swaraj Foundation in association with Atal Innovation Mission (NITI Aayog) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is going to organize the ¡®World¡¯s Largest Global Climate Clock Assembly and Display¡¯ event on the occasion of Mother Earth Day on 22nd April 2023 to create massive awareness regarding the changing climate and rising temperature.

Climate clock to create awareness

As part of the event, about 10,000 organizations are targets to assemble their own climate clocks and install them on the buildings so that millions of people can see the ticking time everyday and get encouraged to take ¡°actions for climate correction¡±.

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Why is this important?

The number 1.5oC holds a very significant place in the entire planet's history. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) clearly states that limiting global warming to 1.5 can avoid the hazardous effects of climate change and every fraction of the degree makes a huge difference.

With the new IPCC 2023 report showing no sign of improvement, climate change is hitting the planet much faster than scientists has already thought and predicted. So along with ¡°Drastic¡± and ¡°immediate¡± actions, ¡°rapid¡± steps for mitigating the climate change should be ¡°rapid¡± otherwise we may cross the limit of 1.5C in next 7-8 years.

Climate change is real and is now recognized as one of the gravest challenges facing the international community. Currently, it is majorly affecting the poor, but the days are not far when every person, irrespective of international and monetary barriers, will suffer the casualties of climate change.

Even in the current year, various climate change events are evident. Like Cyclone Freddy, predicted to be World¡¯s Largest cyclone, that hit Malawi and Mozambique, killing around 100 people, followed by a deadly Cholera outbreak, has been declared a ¡®national tragedy¡¯. Scientists have already warned that climate change will induce more frequent cyclones as it warms the water over the oceans.

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Here in India, the burnt of climate change is already evident, with Bhuj reporting the highest recorded temperature of 40oC in February. Also, the recent hail storms in the northern part of the country have caused significant damage to the Rabi crop. It has left the farmers devastated.

Anthropogenic activities such as the excessive burning of fossil fuels to meet different energy needs produce greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to global warming and climate change. For instance, global energy-related CO? emissions reached a record of almost 42 bn tonnes in 2021. However, many people fail to see the link between their energy consumption and climate change.

Climate Clock assembly

The Energy Swaraj Foundation is taking several steps to bring masses on board. The efforts includes 11 years long Energy Swaraj yatra through a solar bus Energy Literacy Training, Climate Clock assembly.

This year, on the special occasion of Earth Day on 22nd April, The Foundation is inviting organizations and individuals from all sectors including government, public, corporates, schools, academic institutes, universities, NGO¡¯s to participate in the mega event. The event will take place all across the country and in many other countries, but one mega event is planned to take place at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi.

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Setting world record for Climate Clock assembly

This event is going to be a world record event, as no such large scale display of climate clock has been reported earlier.

Those organizations who register themselves and get their people to do Energy Literacy Training and meet certain targets are offered a free DIY climate clock as explained on es-pal.org portal. Participants can also participate in the event by purchasing their own DIY climate clock kit, assembling them using the tutorial provided on es.pal.org/climate.clock.event and displaying the climate clock on their campus premises on 22nd April 2023.

The event is in line with Mission LiFE which focuses on the need to adapt a lifestyle favouring sustainability as our nurturer needs nurturing. It¡¯s responsibility of each individual to inculcate a habit of reducing conspicuous consumption of energy and making rapid transition towards becoming energy conscious.

Climate is not changing it has already changed and we all need to take climate corrective measures because we all are contributor to the climate change and only switching to green and clean energy sources won¡¯t solve the problem but limiting our consumption and generating and localizing the generation can help together make the planet a better place to live in.

This article is published in association with Energy Swaraj Foundation as part of our Climate Action series. Chetan Singh Solanki is a Professor at the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and the founder of Energy Swaraj Foundation. All views/opinions expressed in the article are of the author.