The Earth Midnight Clock
It is 4.6 minutes to midnight.
"Midnight" is the moment we exhaust the remaining carbon budget for 1.5 °C — the warming guardrail the world agreed not to cross. One remaining year of budget = one minute on this face. Move the slider to see how our choices push midnight away — or pull it closer.
today's path · 4.6 min to midnight
1.5 °C budget runs out
~2031
100% of today
Presets assume everyone on Earth emits at that per-capita level. The budget already spent is locked in; only emissions from here on move the clock.
- +1.5 °C — the Paris Agreement’s aspirational guardrail≈ 4 yr 8 mo left · budget gone ~2031
- +1.7 °C — reefs, ice sheets and coasts under far greater stress≈ 13 yr 1 mo left · budget gone ~2039
- +2.0 °C — the Paris Agreement’s upper limit≈ 25 yr 8 mo left · budget gone ~2052
We still emit about 41.6 Gt of CO₂ a year. On our current trajectory the 1.5 °C budget runs out around 2031 — but that number is ours to change. This is arithmetic, not prophecy.
CO₂ emitted · live
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worldwide so far this year
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since you opened this page