The two Just Stop Oil activists spray-painted "1.5 is dead" on the gravestone of Charles Darwin. Kristian Buus / In Pictures via Getty ImagesTwo climate activists affiliated with the group Just Stop Oil have painted Charles Darwins grave at Londons Westminster Abbey with a stark message: 1.5 is dead.The protest was a response to the news that global temperatures in 2024exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Staying below this threshold was one of the commitments set by theParis Agreement in 2015.We have already passed through the 1.5 degree [threshold] that was supposed to keep us safe, said one of the activists during the protest, per video footage released by Just Stop Oil. Millions are being displaced, California is on fire and three-quarters of all wildlife has disappeared since the 1970s.Activists deface Darwin's grave at London's Westminster Abbey | REUTERSWatch on On Monday morning, the two protestersAlyson Lee, 66, and Di Bligh, 77used orange spray chalk to deface Darwins gravestone in Westminster AbbeysScientists Corner, which is also the burial site of renowned figures such as Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking.Lee, a retired teaching assistant, says that if Darwin were alive today, he would be as upset as us with the government for ignoring the science, per PA Media.Bligh, a former chief executive of Reading Council in England, emphasizes the urgency of the moment.If we do not work together to rein in the corporations and billionaires driving us beyond our means, humanity will not be able to adapt to what is coming, she says in a statement. We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it.According toCopernicus, Europes climate monitoring agency, 2024 was the hottest year on record for every continental region except Australia and Antarctica. The protesters are calling for the United Kingdom to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.Our governments plans will bring us to [over] three degrees of warming, the protesters warned. This will destroy everything we love. World leaders must stop burning oil, gas and coal by 2030.Westminster Abbey confirmed that the activists had defaced the memorial but assured the public that the chalk would not cause lasting harm.The Abbeys conservators are taking immediate action to clean the memorial, and we do not anticipate that there will be any permanent damage, a spokesperson tells PA Media. The Abbey remains open for visiting and worshipping.The Metropolitan Police arrested the two women on suspicion of criminal damage. According to Agence France-Presse, they will appear in court in mid-February.Just Stop Oil, a group known for its disruptive protests, has previously targeted other high-profile landmarks in England, including theNational Gallery and Stonehenge, in a bid to draw attention to the climate crisis. The group says its activism has led to more than 3,000 arrests since its formation in 2022, according to Issy Ronald ofCNN.These protests rarely cause permanent damage, but they are quite controversial, with many critics arguing against their strategy of targeting historically or culturally significant sites. Meanwhile, activists insist that such stunts are necessary to bring attention to pressing problems.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Activism, British History, Charles Darwin, Climate Change, Crime, England, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, History, Oil, Protest