AVAAZ and the Arctic ice emergency

Good news that AVAAZ is focusing on the Arctic meldown planetary emergency. Does it matter if it is too late for political action to make any difference? Whether their sort of political action is efficacious or not is possibly a personal decision.

30 months to save the world

AVAAZ,

20 June, 2013

Scientist Julienne Stroeve has studied Arctic ice for decades. Every summer she travels to north to measure how much ice has melted. She knows that climate change is melting the ice fast, but on her last trip, she couldn't believe what she saw. Vast areas of Arctic ice have disappeared, beyond our worst expectations.

This is what the experts warned us about. As the earth warms, it creates many "tipping points" that accelerate the warming out of control. Warming thaws the Arctic sea ice, destroying the giant white 'mirror' that reflects heat back into space, which massively heats up the ocean, and melts more ice, and so on. We spin out of control. Already this year -- storms, temperatures -- everything is off the charts.

We CAN stop this, if we act very fast, and all together. And out of this extinction nightmare, we can pull one of the most inspiring futures for our children and grandchildren. A clean, green future in balance with the earth that gave birth to us.

We have 30 months until the Paris Summit, the meeting that world leaders have decided will determine the fate of our efforts to fight climate change. It might seem like a long time - it's not. We have 30 months to get the right leaders in power, get them to that meeting, give them a plan, and hold them accountable. And it's us vs. the oil companies, and fatalism. We can win, we must, but we need to blast out of the starting gate with thousands of pledges of support -- we'll only process the donations if we get enough to meet our goals. For the world we dream of, let's make it happen.

MORE INFORMATION:

Scientists Close in on the Cause of Arctic Methane Leaks (Climate Central)

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/scientists-close-in-on-the-cause-of-arctic-methane-leaks-15090

NASA warns Arctic thaw could have huge impact on global warming (The Verge)

http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/12/4422078/nasa-arctic-permafrosts-carbon-emissions

Five Reasons We Need a New Global Agreement on Climate Change by 2015 (Switchboard NRDC)

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/five_reasons_we_need_a_new_glo.html

The Doha climate talks were a start, but 2015 will be the moment of truth (The Guardian)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/10/doha-climate-talks-global-warming

Vast methane 'plumes' seen in Arctic ocean as sea ice retreats (The Independent)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vast-methane-plumes-seen-in-arctic-ocean-as-sea-ice-retreats-6276278.html