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Back in the early 70's when I was a child, there were few movies scarier to me than The Wizard of Oz. Surprisingly, the made-for-TV Horton Hears a Who was one that frightened me more than that wicked green witch with her flying monkeys. Every time it came on, I'd hold my breath until the end, sure that this time the Whos would not yell loud enough to save themselves. Those in charge of their very existence would not hear them. They'd end up boiling in the pot for sure. But of course, each time, the Whos did come through. Little shirker Jo-Jo adds his voice to the chorus of Whos crying, "We're here! We're here!" and the day is saved. I could sleep easy that night, knowing that once again justice (and cold hard facts) had prevailed.
As corny as it might seem, every time I think about the climate crisis the world faces today, I can't help thinking of Seuss's story and how, even with the expert testimony of the majority of scientists who have been trying to warn us of the catastrophic consequences of ignoring the evidence of climate change, many of our world's leaders are unwilling to commit to taking the steps necessary to truly reverse this warming trend in time to make a difference. Why? Because we, their constituents, are not yelling loudly enough. And what should we be yelling? According to Bill McKibben, 350!
What is 350?
350 is the estimated safe level of CO2 (in parts per million) for our atmosphere, a level first announced by Nasa scientist Jim Hanson in 2007 and most recently endorsed by Rajenda Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The problem? We are already at 390, way over the 350 mark that some scientists believe is even too high.
As far as I'm concerned, we are well past arguing for or against human-caused climate change. According to the May 16, 2007 issue of New Scientist, "a recent poll found that 97.4% of active climatologists agree that human activity is warming the planet." What's important now is agreeing on what we need to do to get down to acceptable levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
In a conference call to Bloggers this week, 350.org founder and director Bill McKibben reviewed some of the science and explained that the effects of climate change are occurring much faster than previously expected. And these effects are creating problems in the world now. From the 350.org site:
Glaciers everywhere are melting and disappearing fast—and they are a source of drinking water for hundreds of millions of people.
Mosquitoes, who like a warmer world, are spreading into lots of new places, and bringing malaria and dengue fever with them.
Drought is becoming much more common, making food harder to grow in many places.
Sea levels have begun to rise, and scientists warn that they could go up as much as several meters this century. If that happens, many of the world's cities, island nations, and farmland will be underwater.
The oceans are growing more acidic because of the CO2 they are absorbing, which makes it harder for animals like corals and clams to build and maintain their shells and skeletons.
Coral reefs could start dissolving at an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 450-500 ppm. These impacts are combining to exacerbate conflicts and security issues in already resource-strapped regions.
Why wait before it's too late to act? Why wait until millions of people are without drinking water and have lost their homes? There is suffering in the world now, and to me, it's time to act.
Blog Action Day
Today, October 15, is the annual Blog Action Day, a day during which thousands of bloggers across the globe all write about the same topic. Not surprisingly, this year's topic is Climate Change. No matter what kinds of posts you normally write, please take a minute to sign up at the Blog Action Day web site and write a post about climate change and what it means to you. What changes are you willing to make in your life? What would you like your leaders to do? How does climate change affect you and the people you know? You don't have to be an expert, simply a concerned citizen of the world. The Blog Action Day site suggests the following:
We encourage you to write about
