On October 24, 2009 over 5,000 actions in over 180 countries took place to raise awareness surrounding the issue of global climate change.
The organizers - 350.org - chose a number because a number is more easily understood across boarders and languages. 350 in particular, represents the parts per million of greenhouse gasses that many scientists (originally a NASA scientist) have determined the limit above which we will experience dramatic climate destabilization. (we are now at 387 ppm so we need to actually go backwards).
It is worth going to the 350 website and checking out the slide show of actions from around the world - it is quite moving to see people from all over the world coming together to express concern over a single pressing issue.
It is also worth noting that while the world is concerned about this issue, Americans are actually becoming LESS concerned with it as a recent poll shows that the number of United States citizens who believe global climate change is a real problem is actually going down!
I was attending a conference called Re-imagining High School so was not able to take part in any planned actions. Instead I drew on a t-shirt and wore it throughout the day. It sparked lots of conversation. One presenter, during his talk, called me out on my shirt, showed us a photo his school had taken that morning for 350 and then I saw others in the audience googling 350 to see what it was all about. The conversations continued later that night as I had a drink in a bar and spurred conversation with patrons and the bar tender alike. The photo of my shirt is on the 350 flicker stream.
The back of my shirt gave the phone numbers for congress ((202)224-3121) and the white house (202-456-1414) so people can call and tell their elected employees to take serious action to fight climate change and in particular to tell Obama to go to Copenhagen in December to push for a strong international committment on the matter.
peace,
Danny
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