Southern Sierran
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN COPENHAGEN TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING ON OCTOBER 24
By Jim Stewart
Co-chair, Angeles Chapter Global Warming, Energy & Air Quality Committee

The world's leaders are meeting this December in Copenhagen, Denmark to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions. The problem is, the draft treaty currently being considered doesn't address the severity of the climate crisis. 350--as in parts per million concentration of carbon dioxide--is the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere that will support life on earth as we now know it.

The International Day of Climate Action, October 24, 2009, is designed to call attention to this "most important number on earth" and show that people around the world are ready to take up this challenge. We can reduce the risk of dangerous tipping points in the climate system, protect biodiversity and resilience, clean water supplies, food production and other critical resources, as we shift from a fossil-fuel based economy to one that is renewable, efficient, sustainable and fair.

The hope is to have actions at hundreds of places around the world - from the Taj Mahal to the Great Barrier Reef to every community - to send a clear message to world leaders: the solutions to climate change must be equitable, they must be grounded in science, and they must meet the scale of the crisis.

To find out about what's happening in and near your community, go to www.350.org, click on "Find an Action" and type in the name of your community (and other nearby communities). Although the Sierra Club is not officially sponsoring October 24 events, local members are participating in many activities, such as: Irvine, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena.

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