The Climate Clock

The climate clock below counts down the time left to limit global warming to 1.5ºC. The bad news is that we have a few years only, not decades, before the clock runs down. The good news is that we have the power to add more time to the clock – but only if we act together with much greater urgency on reducing greenhouse gases.

Why 1.5C is a big deal

Higher temperatures worsen droughts, wipe out crops and cause flash flooding. Winter storms and Summer heatwaves become more extreme and threaten more lives. The list goes on. Exceeding 1.5ºC global average warming makes these repercussions significantly worse and throws natural systems off balance, permanently, impacting millions of lives and devastating livelihoods.

Deeds not words

In the 2016, nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pledged to limit their emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050. Despite the promises, it’s not happening fast enough. We only have a few years left before global warming reaches 1.5ºC, and based on the current lack of speed in moving to net zero, in all probability we will exceed this global red line by the end of the decade.

It’s an average, not a limit

The average temperature rise is a general indicator of where our natural systems reach a dangerous turning point. However, global warming is not a uniform process and some areas are warming much faster than others. The climate crisis does not begin at 1.5ºC, neither does the world end when we exceed it. But we want to act while we still have the chance and keep the emergency from becoming a catastrophe.

What we can do

Most of the solutions already exist. What’s needed is more people to join in, right now. Individual actions are really important, but in facing up to climate change we need to do something bigger, together. If you’re asking, “what can we do?” then have a look through these 25 big local actions and find the one that could make the biggest impact.