Tomorrow at noon, I will put on my first ever “performance art” piece.

I will set up several of the “I vote for climate action: talk to me about your plan” lawn signs on the lawn near the Farmers’ Market in Victoria Park, downtown Regina. My husband will blow a whistle and start a stopwatch. Wearing an exceptionally bright red-orange and yellow tracksuit jacket and bright blue leggings I found at Value Village, I will run and jump (hurdle style) over the lawn signs for 7 minutes without stopping. My son will hand out small flyers to anyone who wanders by wanting to know what I’m doing. One side of the flyer will be EnviroCollective’s mission “to build networks and share resources to support environmental and climate action” and website (where people can order one of these signs).

The other side will say the following:

In 2018, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that we had 12 years remaining to make drastic reductions to our greenhouse gas emissions in order to maintain a global heating temperature increase of 1.5◦ Celsius. Global warming beyond that point would have catastrophic results.

Aligning with the IPCC’s data, Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (in Berlin) keeps a running tally of how much time we have left before we will exceed 1.5◦ Celsius and 2◦ Celsius global warming. Due to increased emissions in the past two years, they now predict we have only a bit over 7 years and 2 months to make these radical cuts to greenhouse gas emissions (at current emission rates).

For 7 minutes, I will hurdle “I vote for climate action signs” to express the urgency of voting in candidates in this fall’s elections who will take climate change as seriously as it needs to be taken.

Search for the MCC Carbon Clock to see how much time we have left.

For some reason, I had the figure of eleven years in my head when this idea came to me. I knew the IPCC had reported on 12 years a while ago… I didn’t realize that it was 2018 when they came out with that figure. I’d also heard the figure of 7 years floating around, and in fact Tanya Dahms suggested I should use that figure instead. I wanted to stick with the IPCC’s number as they carry some clout (as they should…). However, looking into it further, I’ve learned what the situation is: In 2018, the IPCC based their prediction of when the world’s “carbon budget” to keep us at 1.5 degrees Celsius would run out. Two years ago, this window was 12 years.

Now, it is just over 7.

Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change keeps a running clock of how much time is remaining to keep to 1.5 and 2 degrees heating. As of this moment, we are passing:

This has convinced me that I should use the figure of 7 years in tomorrow’s performance.

I’m aware that as much as this figure is based on scientific research, it’s also a prediction. Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change’s Carbon Clock website explains that

“The Special Report of October 2018 presents new figures: The atmosphere can absorb, calculated from end-2017, no more than 420 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO₂ if we are to stay below the 1.5°C threshold. However, since around 42 Gt of CO₂ is emitted globally every year—the equivalent of 1332 tonnes per second—this budget is expected to be used up in just over nine years. The budget for staying below the 2°C threshold, for its part, of approximately 1170 Gt, will be exhausted in about 26 years.”

I have Tanya to thank for knowing about this resource. She sent me a message tonight saying “I think the installation piece in Manhattan is logging 7-8 years…”

I did a quick Google search for “Manhattan installation art climate change” and read about this piece in a New York Times article:

A New York Clock That Told Time Now Tells the Time Remaining

Metronome’s digital clock in Manhattan has been reprogrammed to illustrate a critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.

I’m in awe that such a piece exists — that artists created it, but also that it’s come to this.

And also, that life is going on as usual just below this 62′ wide clock that’s spelling out our doom.

The truth is, the “hurdle” I’m jumping tonight as I do some final preparations for tomorrow is dealing with my son. He hasn’t been sleeping well for months, predating Covid19. While my husband and I don’t talk a lot about climate change in front of him, and we certainly avoid the “doom and gloom,” he definitely knows more about it than the average ten year-old in Saskatchewan. He’s heard us say enough. He’s seen the books we have lying around (even though I try to hide the worst titles, such as We’re Doomed. Now What?). He’s been to the Fridays for Future climate strikes and other rallies. He’s heard people shout out really horrific things — “There’s no Planet B” and “You’ll die of old age. We’ll die of climate change.” He even participated in a “die in” in front of the Legislative Building last year. He’s smart, and he knows that we believe in science, and that the science says the shit is going to hit the fan. I wondered tonight, as he burst into tears when I pointed out that his (long) hair is tangled, how much climate-related anxiety he’s unconsciously experiencing. I wonder about this when he’s so upset because he can’t stick with a story idea long enough to write it (he’s a young writer). Why are his stories not worth writing to him? Is it at all connected to the overall anxiety that’s in the world right now about the ending of our own story? This really worries me.

How is a concerned parent supposed to act?

I want my son to know that I’m doing what I can to help the world realize that drastic change is needed for this drastic situation. At the same time, if he’s handing out flyers for me tomorrow, of course he’s going to read one. Do I change the wording to take off the edge? Perhaps remove the part that says, “Global warming beyond that point would have catastrophic results.” Do I try to add some level of “hope.” Apparently, “hope” and “solutions” is what sells people on the idea of making behavioural (and political?) change in the right direction.

I’ll have to give this some more thought tomorrow morning and when planning my following events. For now, the clock’s ticking, and I better get to bed to have the energy to face tomorrow.