A giant clock displaying the time left before the temperature becomes dangerous was projected on a building in Montreal.

We all know our environment is deteriorating and that’s partly due to CO2 emissions. Because of that, the average temperature is rising. Damon Matthews, professor and research chair in climate science at Concordia university and David Usher, musician and founder of the Human Impact Lab, had the brilliant idea to develop a climate clock.

The clock indicates the time left before the temperature increases by 1.5 degrees celsius, 2 degrees celsius and the tonnes of Co2 emitted every second based on the most recent scientific data. ”The purpose of this clock is to clearly show the time that is left before we reach the temperature that we think is dangerous”said Damon Matthews.

For three years now, this special clock has been projected for four to five days on the Concordia University campus. This year, the projections took place from december 5 to december 8 at the intersection of Guy Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard. This clock was firstly developed on an Internet site, but it can be found on any website as an iframe, at conferences and on outdoor building projections.

This creation is important, because it makes people aware of the situation that is happening right now to our environment. When people see those projections, it reminds them that they need to start caring for our environment and change some bad habits, because we don’t have as much time as we think on earth and for now, planet B doesn’t exist.

Many studies show that if the temperature reaches the warming limit of 2 degrees celsius there will be bigger consequences than we think. It will be catastrophic and irreversible. 47% of the permafrost surface will melt and release large quantities of Methane and Carbon Dioxide. Coastline will sink,coral reefs will disappear and natural catastrophies will happen in a much regular bases. Fish and culture of soy, rice and corn will decreased which will bring famine. Other consequences like floods, heat waves and wildfires will occur in North America.” After that point, it will be difficult to slow things down” said David Usher in an interview.

For now, the clock indicates that there’s around 16 years before the average temperature increase by 1.5 degrees celsius but it can be less if Carbon release increases in the next years.To succeed, we need to take actions like recycling, using renewable energies, eat local, changing your alimentation for a plant based one and using zero emissions transportation.