What can you do in Chiangmai?

What does the number 350 mean?350 is the most

important number in the world—it's what scientists say

is the safe upper limit for carbondioxide in the atmosphere.

Two years ago, after leading climatologists observed rapid

ice melt in the Arctic and other frightening signs of climate

change, they issued a series of studies showing that the

planet faced both human and natural disaster if atmospheric

concentrations of CO2 remained above 350 parts per million.

Everyone from Al Gore to the U.N.’s top climate scientist has

now embraced this goal as necessary for stabilizing the planet

and preventing complete disaster. Now the trick is getting our

leaders to pay attention and craft policies that will put the

world on track to get to 350.

Is 350 scientifically possible?Right now, mostly because

we’ve burned so much fossil fuel, the atmospheric

concentration of co2 is 390 ppm—that’s way too high, and

it’s why ice is melting, drought is spreading, forests are dying.

To bring that number down, the first task is to stop putting

more carbon into the atmosphere. That means a very fast

transition to sun and wind and other renewable forms of power.

If we can stop pouring more carbon into the atmosphere, then

forests and oceans will slowly suck some of it out of the air and

return us to safe levels.

  Is 350 politically possible?It’s very hard. It means switching

off fossil fuel much more quickly than governments and corporations

have been planning. Our best chance to speed up that process will

come in December in Copenhagen, when the world’s nations meet to

agree on a new climate treaty. Right now, they’re not planning to do

enough. But we can change that—if we mobilize the world to swift

and bold climate action, which is what we're planning to do on October

24th.

How will this make a difference?October 24 will put the focus

where it needs to be: on the science and the citizens, not the

special interests and the backroom deals.On that day, people will

send in thousands of images of citizens gathering at important

places around the world—from the melting glaciers of Mt. Everest

to the sinking beaches of the Maldives—displaying the number 350

in a creative way. 350.org will be getting those pictures and putting

them on the big screens in Times Square and projecting them at the

UN headquarters. We'll also be getting them into newspapers large

and small on October 25th—the same newspapers that politicians

all over the world use as a barometer of public opinion.But more

importantly, we'll be able to use them in the weeks before the huge

UN Climate meeting in Copenhagen to remind our leaders that they

need to take physical reality—and not political expediency—into

account when they're making decisions about our collective future.

350 is a clear and specific goal (unlike vague demands to "stop

global warming") that helps move the negotiations in the direction

science and justice demand.We'll also deliver copies of the images—

and the stories that go with them—to national delegates and

heads of state the world over. We'll make sure your voice is heard

and this debate is re-framed in time to make a difference.

from 350.org

www.queenbeetours.com 

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:40:04 by adisai2009

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:42:42 by adisai2009

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:45:16 by adisai2009

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:46:46 by adisai2009

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:56:33 by adisai2009

edit @ 31 Oct 2009 10:57:14 by adisai2009