By now, most of you have probably seen the great news photos from Sunday’s Human Countdown event in Central Park. But to get the full effect, you really have to see the massive, 1,200-person stunt in action. Check out Oxfam’s official video of the earth and hourglass from above:
And here’s the slightly shaky, but fun video I captured from my spot in the bottom of the hourglass:
As I write this from a borrowed office near Manhattan’s UN plaza, a police officer leans against the window a few feet away. I can hear the crackle of her radio and the tap of her nightstick against the glass; I can see her stance, weary yet alert. For the last hour, she’s been carefully eyeing each pedestrian who wanders past.
Because of this week’s UN General Assembly, including a high-level climate summit that begins tomorrow, the neighborhood is full of police officers guarding newly erected metal barriers. With more than 100 world leaders in town—including President Obama—security is understandably tight.
I also noticed this extra security at today’s Climate Week NYC opening ceremony, where celebrities and world leaders (including Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Hugh Jackman, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon) kicked off a week of climate change events. In just one day, I’d gone from a grassroots stunt led by Oxfam campaigners and featuring thousands of volunteer activists—the Human Countdown in Central Park—to an invite-only panel that showcased the voices of power.
Photo by Kate Vacanti / Oxfam America
Yesterday I found myself wrapped in a pale blue plastic poncho, arm in arm with my friend Kate on one side and a total stranger on the other. Hundreds of people rushed toward us as we stood squinting in the late afternoon sunlight—and then, in time with the music echoing over the sound system, they all turned as one, raising both arms to point at the sky. As a sea of extended arms lowered, beat by beat, an ominous countdown echoed overhead: “Tck. Tck. Tck.”
That’s what it looked like from where I stood, anyway—one among the thousands who turned out for Oxfam’s Human Countdown event in New York’s Central Park.
Viewed from above, the carefully choreographed spectacle makes more sense. An army of volunteers transform themselves into a massive, perfectly rendered planet earth, which trickles down through an hourglass, then forms the words “tck tck tck.” Our group was the bottom of the hourglass, while the blue- and green-clad dancers in front of us formed the earth’s oceans and continents.
But beyond just looking really cool, yesterday’s event sends a clear message: Time is running out for our leaders to act on climate change.
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