Greenhouse Gas Clock Measures Emissions Second by Second

07/5/09

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3 Comments Written by Julie Schwietert

The greenhouse gas clock is located next to Madison Square Garden. Photo by Francisco Collazo

The U.S. national debt clock?

That’s so last year.

On June 18, a 70-foot tall greenhouse gas clock was unveiled by Deutsche Bank on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 34th Street in New York City. The company, which has a branch that advises business clients about the economic and environmental benefits of being green, erected the clock to raise the public’s awareness about greenhouse gas emissions.

Fast Company calls the counter a “scary…scare tactic” and predicts that it may quickly become a “sign of hopelessness.”

Let’s just hope that we’re not as cynical as Fast Company, which wonders “how a single person could make a difference [in reducing emissions]“… and let’s hope that the greenhouse gas clock doesn’t meet the same fate as the debt clock… which ran out of digits last October.

Community Connection:

Not sure how one person can make a difference? Check out “The Lazy Environmentalist’s Guide” here.

Tagged under: carbon, carbon clock, carbon emission, carbon footprint, debt clock, Deutsche Bank, emissions, greenhouse gas clock, greenhouse gases, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York, New York City

Matador ID: collazo

Julie Schwietert is the managing editor of Matador Network. She contributed a chapter to the recently published book, The Voluntary Traveler, and is currently working on five features for Fodor's Puerto Rico, 6th Edition.

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Comments (3)

3 Comments... join the discussion!

Rafhael replied on July 7, 2009

I would really like for us to start using “Climate change” instead of “Global warming”, although it seems to be replacing it rather quickly. People are far too ignorant to understand that just because the weather in their area isn’t necessarily warmer, global “warming” isn’t really happening or actually real. I like this article, CNN has a carbon caculator calculating the amounts of emissions by airplanes from city to city, it’s really interesting.
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Erin replied on July 15, 2009

I’m with Rafhael on the use of “climate change” instead of “global warming” – the phrasing is very important for really understanding this problem.

As for the Greenhouse Gas Clock, I’m not into “politics of fear” but it would be great if bold gestures like this one began to help more people see the gravity of the issue and the urgent need for change.
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