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Picture this: three firefighters, dressed for work, standing in a blackened landscape scarred by wildfires and flash floods. They hold bright, circular signs: This is climate change. More CO2 = More Wildfires. Connect the Dots.
That's what some of our friends in New Mexico are planning for Climate Impacts Day on 5/5/12. That landscape they'll be standing in? The Bandelier National Monument, where the largest fire in New Mexico's history burned 60% of the park last year. As the planet warms, wildfires are getting both fiercer and more frequent. As Ken Frederick of the United States Bureau of Land Management and a former firefighter said, "we are in the era of the mega-fire."
But we are also in the era of the mega-movement. 350.org has led global days of action before, but things are different this year: for people everywhere, the climate crisis is no longer some distant, abstract challenge. It's here, it’s real, and its impacts are already being felt -- and people everywhere are taking notice.
Now it’s up to all of us in this movement to use this unique moment in history as a planetary wake-up call. People from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe are gearing up for 5/5/12 -- with events that will educate their communities and put a human face on the climate crisis. At each and every event, activists will take a big group photo of a massive dot representing their local climate impacts -- and as soon as the event is over they'll upload their photos to ClimateDots.org.
Our team will connect those climate dots to make a potent mosaic of images around the world. We'll spread those images far and wide, and make sure that governments and global media start connecting the dots on the climate crisis.
But these actions are linked by more than crisis -- they're also linked by hope that together we can overcome this challenge. By coming together with bold global action, we'll be strengthening our movement and showing that we are united in our outrage and our hope.
I'm sure that many of you share that hope and outrage. If you do, I look forward to joining you in action. To find an action (or start one -- there's still time to pull together a quick event) visit ClimateDots.org.
Let's do this,
May Boeve for the 350.org team
P.S. It's up to every one of us to connect the dots for our friends and family -- can you share this call to action with your social networks? Click here to share on Facebook and here to share on Twitter.
MORE LINKS AND INFO
- Background and scientific citations for the link between wildfires and climate change (and other climate impacts) can be found at www.climatedots.org/factsheets
350.org is building a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, and sign up for email alerts. You can help power our work by getting involved locally and donating here.
What is 350? Go to our website to learn about the science behind the movement.
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