There will be demonstrations calling for urgent action on climate change in cities around this world this Saturday (Nov. 4). The "International Day of Action on Climate Change" is being timed to coincide with the start of the 12th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi next week.
The US demonstrations will also focus on the upcoming election. If you're interested in joining, Climate USA has a list of contacts in your city. For a list of demonstrations in Canada, check here.
Happy Halloween. Well, the scary global climate change is the scariest thing in the world these days. What would be the costume to dress as Global Climate Change?
ReplyDeleteBe scared of evil Global Climate Change
Climate crises kill 150,000 people a year? These people got to stop emitting GG and pollution they emit by smoking too much pot. If they put malaria deaths into this statistics then they are putting the blame from themselves (for banning DDT) onto mystical GCC. Now I understand the deep roots GCC has in environmental community.
ReplyDeleteDoubled up with significant efforts on part of hostile to western way of leaving governments to undermine western industrial power, this movement looks very scary. If US will elect democratic government that will blindly follow this movement. We are for better prepare for chaos in the world way more complicated than Cuban missile crises.
For the first time I am very scared that you Simon and your buddies will succeed in demolishing the way of living we have right now. I know that you have a smirk right now. This is an educated guess right now based on the knowledge of history and science. But this guess is much better than any of the computer climate models. Go back to hurricane season predictions.
So, you won't be attending?
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I agree, I don't think climate change should be dominated by the environmental community. As a scientist, and as a member of society, it has never made sense to me. The reason people and many governments are concerned is that climate change could impact food production, health, water availability, infrastructure, etc. In that sense, climate change is not an "environmental" probem -- it is just a problem, like many other complex issues the world faces.
So, yes, demonstrations can backfire. If they are dominated by only people believed to be on the fringe, say "radical environmentalists" who support any cause with a green label without giving the issue any thought, there's a risk that the rest of the population will dismiss the issue being raised by the demonstration. I post about these things not to stoke the fire among radical demonstrators who want to overthrow the government - I doubt they are reading this anyway - but to encourage people from other walks of life might give the issues and the science some thought.