Filed under: Activism, Climate Change

Greenpeace wasn't the only group to stage a protest in Copenhagen this weekend. In fact, not all of the protests are even happening in Denmark!

Over the weekend, one of the most active and vocal climate action groups, 350.org, staged a series of 3000 vigils in 139 countries around the world. The purpose of the vigils was to reiterate to world leaders that we want a "real deal" in Copenhagen -- not just some "agreement to agree at some point" like we've been hearing about.

The video above shows some of the devastation already happening around the world because of climate change, and it has the heartstring-pulling music. Get ready for goosebumps and tissue-reaching.

One of the things that's so moving about 350.org is that it's all regular people -- they actually aren't wild-eyed activists, they're folks like you and me, who are deeply concerned about the climate change. Also, it's a truly global organization -- you'll hear several languages, and see people from all over the world in the video.

350.org's "demands" for an agreement to come out of COP15 are simple:

• Make it fair, providing $200 billion for poor countries
• Make it ambitious, limiting peak emissions by 2015 and returning to 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, (which is the cornerstone of their organization, and based on NASA science)
• Make it a binding global treaty

Of course the devil is in the details, like who has to come up with that $200 billion? But you have to admire their specificity and their relentless energy.

The organization has been busy this week, and they have more planned. You can sign up to get updates directly from 350.org, or wait to see it on YouTube. Either way, stay tuned for more!

350.org Vigils in Copenhagen and Around the World originally appeared on Green Daily on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:01:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Filed under: Activism, Climate Change, Plants and Wildlife

If you keep up with Climate Change gossip, then by now you've heard about the emails that were hacked from the computers of some leading climate scientists, and leaked to the world press by a group we can most easily refer to as "The Deniers".

The Deniers maintain that climate change is an elaborate hoax, or bad science, or a combination of the two. They are gleefully clapping and pointing at the substantial lack of professionalism (and in some cases outright jerkiness) in the email exchanges, which they consider "proof" that climate change is fake. Or at least less serious than the climate scientists "want" us to believe, in their apparent bid for the riches, power and willing women for which a career in climate science is so well known.

Because everyone agrees, being a climate scientist is like being James Bond with mystery, intrigue and dreamy locations like East Anglia, England.
Sarcasm aside, here's the deal: the polar ice is melting -- it's just not there any more, look at the satellite maps! -- and polar bears are cannibalizing their young because the rotten ice floating around in the rising oceans won't support their weight, so they can't hunt seals.

How dramatic is this melting polar ice? There is talk of opening shipping lanes for the first time ever through an Arctic Ocean.

It's not just happening in the Arctic. In November, Australia experienced record high and low temperatures, and a month's worth of rain fell in six hours in Ondoy in the Philippines.

And if you want to consider some of the more alarming predictions, a recent study estimated that ice melting in the Antarctic could cause the ocean levels to rise four and a half feet by the end of the century.

You don't have to like or respect the scientists doing the research -- they seem like a typical bunch of smug smart dudes who think they know more than the rest of us. Probably because they do. But you do have to admit that bad things, potentially life-threatening things, are happening to our planet.

You can denigrate the messenger, but you can't fight the facts.

Bryan Appleyard of the Times of London beautifully explains his transition from a climate skeptic to a believer in an article titled simply, "Global Warming is Real." In it he calmly refutes the most incendiary of The Deniers' claims, and separates the science from the politics.

There is a huge task at hand, one that requires the cooperation of the whole world. In the absence of a malevolent alien invader who will convince us to put aside our differences and work together to save the planet, perhaps we could take a page from Mr. Appleyard's book.

Ignore the office politics of academic publishing, mute the negative distraction of The Deniers, and focus on the facts: there is more carbon dioxide in the air than ever before, there are massive climate changes happening all over the world, and we need a global plan for survival.

The only smart course of action is to put resources and support behind research to confirm why this is happening, in an effor to to find a way to solve, fix or cope with the realities.

Good thing we have all of the leaders of the world meeting at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen next week. This will definitely give them something to talk about!

Climate Change is Here: No Ice, No Bears, No Doubt originally appeared on Green Daily on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Filed under: Polit-eco, Climate Change

Over the weekend, President Obama and other world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Singapore, announced that they will not be able to reach a binding agreement on stopping global warming during the the Copenhagen Climate Conference (COP15) in December.

Instead, Obama and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that COP15 should focus on accomplishing political cohesion as the first part of a two step process. They want to use the conference to agree on a basic framework for an agreement, including how to finance carbon-reducing activity, and wait to try to create a binding commitment to global carbon caps at a later date.

So ... they want to agree to agree that they will put off doing the work until later. Which would be fine if we could put climate change on hold. Since doesn't seem to be an option, I think a lot of activists are going to be really upset that global leaders, led by Obama, are watering down the goals of the conference.

Realistically, it will be impressive if all 191 participating countries are able to agree at COP15 on how the world should split the bill, and I suppose we should be delighted that they're even committing to do that much in December. It's just frustrating to read that the second step, a legally binding treaty, could take a year, or even longer, to negotiate.

Part of the problem is that President Obama has yet to agree to even attend COP15, despite the adorable exhortations of the kids of WWF staffers. Also, the Senate won't be able to pass Climate Change legislation before the conference, and the other major industrialized countries are waiting to see what we commit to in terms of carbon caps before they'll commit.

It's a climate impasse, and that's just the tip of the melting (yes, really, I went there) iceberg.

Other issues include the growing disconnect between wealthy carbon-emitting countries (like us) who don't want to commit to reducing emissions out of fear that it will hurt our floundering economies, and developing nation countries that have low carbon emissions, but are first in line to bear the brunt of climate change like rising ocean levels.

Rather than being a major milestone in addressing the climate change issue, COP15 is running the risk of being yet another in a series of meetings where leaders only talk about action. Let's hope that's not the case.

Obama and World Leaders Hedge on Copenhagen Agreement originally appeared on Green Daily on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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