Climate change scares the bejeezus out of me.
I’m a little embarrassed to say that the movie The Day After Tomorrow was what really pushed me from the “I know global warming is bad, but I’m sure it’ll all get worked out eventually” attitude to the “I need to start listening to Al Gore RIGHT NOW!” full freakout mode.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll sum it up for you: the politicians don’t listen to the scientists, global warming goes into in full effect, and a huge instant ice age hits the world so hard that it causes major catastrophes and kills billions. Scary stuff. The movie makes the consequences of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere seem very real and very bad. Of course, it’s fictional — but it’s possible.
That’s why today I’m participating in Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web, tackling what is probably the most important problem our world faces: climate change.
I hope I don’t have to convince you that climate change exists. If you think it’s “just a theory” and nothing to concern ourselves about, well, I suggest you do a little research. (A few quick and reputable references: the EPA’s site, the UN’s site, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the Pew Center’s site.)
If you’re already on board and want to help save the world for your kids, grandkids, etc., here’s an organization I think has a strong plan of action and has already made some headway: the We Campaign, a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection — a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Al Gore. The goal of the Alliance is to build a movement that creates the political will to solve the climate crisis — in part through repowering America with 100 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources within 10 years.
I hope you’ll consider joining and becoming part of the solution. Or take your own path to helping, whether it’s through a local initiative in your town or some other big organization that’s taking steps to change our future. It’s not too late!
I am not sure if we have any effect on global warming but I think we still need to be energy efficient and help the environment.