Climate Action Goes Creative

categories: Activism, Imagining the Future, Solutions

Published October 31, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT

Last Saturday's International Day of Climate Action was, as Mike Smith wrote on this blog, "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history." Not only that, but it was fun.

The action was structured around the concept of 350, which is the parts per million of carbon dioxide we can afford to have in our atmosphere.

Enthusiastic participants all over the world made visual depictions of 350 -- using everything from their bodies to sandbags to sailboats to a flotilla of yellow balloons -- and photographed them for the world to see. The curious one that heads this post was generated by lantern walkers in Sydney, Australia.

So what's so important about 350 and how can you get in on the fun?

350.org, the entity that organized the action day, explains it well and offers this handy graphic to show where we are now in comparison to where we need to be:

Whether you're just interested in observing the antics of the world's many 350-advocates or would like to give it a try yourself, there are resources aplenty to help you on 350's Website.

To submit your own photo, attach the image to an email to photos@350.org with your city and country as the subject and the caption and credits in the body of the e-mail. Or, sit back, relax and enjoy some other people's creativity in this catchy video:

Photo courtesy of 350.org via flickr

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Comments (5)

Talk about an irrational goal!!! We're at 387, and the crazies want to knock it down by 37 ppm?

Again I have a wunderful[sic] idea... Every GW activist should jump in a hole and pour concrete over their head -- sealing in the carbon dioxide that they would ohterwise emit during their whining-mewling lifetimes.

Ant takers?

Posted by CTYankee Aeon on 11/03/2009 @ 05:29PM PT
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Wow, deniers get there first every time! Could the big, dirty energy companies be paying them?

Posted by Craig Nazor on 11/05/2009 @ 01:30AM PT
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Paying us??? Yeah, right ;^) Where the heck is *my* check???

How do you explain deniers like me? Like the wind turbine phanatics[sic]? Like the geothermal advocates? The tidal power group? And let's not forget the Hydrogen Economy crazies?

Sure the coal companies hate being tarred with the CO2 problem. And I agree that a significant fraction of the CO2 in the atmosphere today, was coal, oil, and natural gas in the ground only 150 years ago. But a lot of it was trees too, and much of the carbon that makes up the current forests was fossil fuel that we burned. It's called the carbon cycle for a reason.

The conslusion of the 'GW catastrophe' is like comparing the rate at which your tires leak air and deflate over months or years of inactivity, yielding the conclusion that the undercarriage will *slam* into the driveway... while ignoring the movments of the suspension as you drive to and from work every day.

Posted by CTYankee Aeon on 11/05/2009 @ 11:30AM PT
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And you are complaining about their whining.

Posted by Emily Pollard on 11/12/2009 @ 05:46AM PT
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Yes Emily, I'm complaining about the whining. Bad conclusions, false statistics, and silly ideas that will destroy the economy, tend to get on my nerves. It makes me irritable and that causes me to lash out in the fora.

If you think this irrational 'plan' is a good idea then you too should inhale/exhale into a bag.

Craig & I were having a heated exchange in another thread, you're in way over your head here. If the neopet avatar is a hint, you're about my daughters age. She's a vegetarian too, but gets enough protein to keep her thought processes sharp. I'm sorry for the ad hominem, but no one asked for commentary on commentary.

If you have something to add, then by all means, join the discussion. Just be prepared.

Posted by CTYankee Aeon on 11/12/2009 @ 07:15AM PT
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Author

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations. Her articles, essays, and stories have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, books, and Websites.