What is Climate Clock ?
The Climate Clock was launched in 2015 to provide a measuring stick against which viewers can track climate change mitigation progress. This clock shows us the time left for climate correction of a certain level. There are two important timelines concerning climate change 1.5oC and 2oC. At 1.5oC climate change will start to become irreversible and by 2oC of global warming, it will become almost irreversible. The 1.5oC climate shows how much time is left before we touch the global warming of 1.5oC above normal and the 2oC climate shows how much time is left before we touch the global warming of 2oC above normal.
How to Calculate Time Left in Climate Clock ?
Factors Determining Time Left in Climate Clock,
- How much is the carbon budget to reach out a given global warming temperature,
- what is the current rate of CO2 emission or more correctly greenhouse gas emission.
Carbon Budget
Carbon budget refers to the permissible amount of emission of CO2 for a given global warming. Total carbon budget is reduced from 400 Billion Tons CO2 in 2020 to 280 Billion Tons CO2 in 2023 i.e. 30% for limiting warming to 1.5oC. This carbon budget gives 67% probability of staying below the 1.5ºC and 2oC global warming levels.
Current Rate of CO2 Emission
The current annual rate of carbon emission is about 43 billion tons.
Formula
Time Left = Current Carbon Budget / Current CO2 emission.
Using IPCC WG1 approach, dividing the carbon budget of 280 billion tons from the start of 2023, for 1.5oC with the rate of emission, we get approximate time left, which is displayed by the climate clock. As on 11th April, 2023, the time left shown by 1.5oC climate clock is 6 years and 102 days only. Similarly the time shown by the climate clock for 2oC of global warming is 24 years and 19 days.
Conclusion
The 1.5oC is the most important number for humans living on this planet. Considering this there is not much time left for climate correction. Climate change is not caused by any one government or any one organization. Every user of energy and material, all across the planet, directly and indirectly contributes to the CO2 emissions and hence contributes to climate change. Therefore, everyone has to take part in climate change correction.
In Crown Monkey, We are working on spreading awareness among population about climate change, its impact and Bring on Sustainable Solutions that helps to attain our Net Zero Goal and Better Tomorrow.