Does Society Conform to a Timer?

Does society conform to a timer? 

One could argue yes. That it is expected of us to graduate high school by 18, to be out of college by 22, and to be settled down in life with your family by your mid thirties.

Of course there are outliers to this “timer” but it has been and seems to be a trend. I’d argue that it is even human nature to count the time left, like how many more hours of work or how when your paycheck is coming. 

A recent timer that is trending on the internet is from the U.N. Panel as they claim that we have just under a decade to drastically change fossil fuel consumption in order to hold global warming to “relatively safe rates”.  

Similar timelines have appeared within the last decade or so from my memory alone. A timer called the Climate clock which appeared in New York the fall of 2020 and was installed by artists and activists, Gan Golan, Katie Peyton Hofstadter, Adrian Carpenter and Andrew Boyd. This group of activists repurposed the metronome in Union Square in New York City to show the Climate Clock.

Like the U.N. Panels deadline, the Climate Clock suggests when damage to the Earth will become irreversible from our fossil fuel consumption and other pollutants. 

The Climate Clock is updated each year and has been delayed overall as measures have been taken to limit the use of fossil fuels as the main source of energy. As of late June 2022, the clock reads that irreversible damage will occur in late July 2029.

Another deadline that rose in popularity as it approached was the ending of the Mayan calendar in December 2012. Despite it not having much scientific backing to it, it was still considered by some as the start of an apocalypse that would end the world. 

Thankfully we survived the ending of the Mayan Calendar, not to the surprise of most; But it begs the question if some of the other timers in society are completely honest or are used as a jumpstart in order to rush change into the world as change in current society is notoriously slow in countries like the United States.

 Questioning that global warming is actually occurring is futile from all the scientific studies and current understanding we now have of how our current actions are contributing to the warming. Yet, I still think there is merit in questioning the end that these timers suggest.

The U.N. Panel predicts that global temperatures are estimated to rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels around the first half of the 2030’s”. The 1.5 degrees Celsius is an agreed upon amount if the global temperatures increased by for “catastrophic heat waves, flooding, drought, crop failures and species extinction (to) become significantly harder for humanity to handle.” (Plumer 2023)

According to the New York Times in an article just recently published by Brad Plumer, the world’s two big polluters are China and the United States. Despite being one of the worlds top polluters, China issued permits for 168 coal-fired power plants while the Biden administration approved oil drilling in Alaska.

The main concern according to Plumer is that the difference in global temperatures raising 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius is huge and would most likely mean the melting of arctic sea ice, no coral reefs, and coastal flooding that could affect tens of millions of people.

Plumer also states that the U.S. and E.U. plan for net zero emissions by 2050, China by 2060, and India by 2070 but Mr. Guterres, the Chairman of the U.N., says that all countries should really aim for 2040.

Obviously wealthier countries like China and the U.S. should be the main focus for change as they have the funds and contribute the most towards the pollution. 

As shown throughout the U.N. report, humanity’s action today could have the chance to snowball and make a huge impact on the future. Steps in the right direction could save the environment while continuing steps towards fossil fuel consumption could lead to an even earlier demise. 

Although pushing for rapid change is the best course of action for saving the environment, it will not be a hard deadline where the world will combust into eternal flames. So I recommend to you the reader, to begin in your own circle with things that you can physically change because ultimately it will be a collective that will stop climate change, not the individual.