Friday 20 August 2010

A Summer of Climate Disasters

OK, I haven't posted for a long while, but thought I would just share this, from 350.org:

Sometimes 'climate change' can seem like an abstraction. That is, until you see it in action, as we have this summer in Pakistan, in the mountains of China and in the overheated peat bogs of central Russia.

This is all part of the reality we face in our current world of 392 ppm CO2. Our main work is to try and slow down the climate crisis before it gets worse--by getting to work on climate solutions that can get us back to 350.

But working to create a safe climate future doesn't mean we don't need to try and help the victims of the climate crisis along the way. When our comrades and colleagues issue a call for assistance, we do everything we can to respond.

The recent floods in Pakistan have displaced 20 million people, and nearly a fifth of the country is literally underwater. The scale of the suffering is difficult to fathom.

And to us, more comfortable Westerners, not only could it happen here, but aren't we in some (not so little?) way responsible for it, though? So we also have a responsibility to help alleviate the suffering, through DEC, Oxfam, or even 350.org itself, as well as working to change the causes of climate change.