350 is the Magic Number

 Today was the biggest day of climate action. People all over the world took action to reduce climate change. The group 350.org started this campaign last year by coordinating an international rally with more than 5,000 events in 181 countries. Today, over 7,000 events were held in 188 countries. The goal is to reduce carbon dioxide concentration levels in the Earth’s atmosphere.

 

The article “Carbon-Cutting ‘Party’ Set for Sunday”, describes the safe threshold for carbon dioxide is 350 parts per million. At the current time we have surpassed this threshold, which has resulted in drastic changes in our planet’s environment, such as melting ice caps, rising sea levels, droughts, extreme weather events and much more. Some parts of the world have reported concentration levels of over 390 parts per million.

People took small steps to make a big difference. Events included everything from digging community gardens to installing solar panels. The 350.org group hopes to send a message to politicians in order to force them to get involved and take action against this global crisis occurring right before our eyes. The governments are aware of the problem but haven’t moved fast enough to change it, according the 350.org group. The team states on their website that  “we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters”. They hope that events like the ones held today will send a message to these politicians: “if we can get to work, you can get to work too--on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run”.

Reflection

I think this is a great campaign. These are the types of movements we need to take place in order to make a change. When the world gathers together to make a change, that’s when we start seeing results. This event will not only send a message to our politicians, but it will send a message to the general public that small actions can make a difference. We have learned in this class that many people feel they can’t make a difference. They know of the problem and would like to see a change, but they don’t know how they can help or make difference. As this group has shown, it doesn’t take much to make a difference. Doing something as simple as planting a tree or painting the rooftop or a school white to save energy contributes to the cause. If everyone did their part, improvements will happen.

Article:

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/a-weekend-party-to-cut-carbon/?scp=3&sq=350&st=cse

350.org Site

http://www.350.org