The Defining Moral Issue of Our Time

From 350.org:
Today is the birthday of one of the most controversial, polarizing and inspiring organizers in history -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Here's one of our favorite quotes from him: 

"It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, 'Wait on time.' "

Share your strong voice, actions, courage and caring if you agree that our job is to insist that our leaders -- and the rest of the world -- take a stand on the defining moral issue of our time: Global Warming.

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Please note: Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are at 392 parts per million (ppm) and climbing. Most climate scientists warn that the level must remain below 350 ppm to sustain life as we know it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the measurement could reach 541 to 970 ppm by 2100. At that point, huge parts of the planet, beset with overpopulation, droughts, soil erosion, freak storms, massive crop failures, and rising sea levels, will be unfit for human existence. And yet so many continue to retreat into fantasy and, at the peril of us all, continue to ignore the facts.

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The Facts About Climate Change - 

• FACT: Average global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Celsius over the 20th century.
• FACT: The United States contains only 5 percent of the world's population, but contributes 22 percent of the world's carbon emissions.
• FACT: 15 percent of carbon emissions come from deforestation and land use change.
• FACT: The Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) is thought to be the first species to go extinct because of climate change.
• FACT: Personal cars and trucks in the United States emit 20 percent of the United States' carbon emissions.
• FACT: Air conditioning and heating account for almost half of electricity use in the average American home.
• FACT: Climate change is linked to stronger hurricanes, more drought andincreased coral deaths from bleaching.
• FACT: Climate change is linked to an increase in disease-carrying pests that lead to the increased spread of diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, lyme disease and West Nile virus.

 From: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/global-warming-climate-change/help/facts-about-climate-change.xml

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"Right now climate change is on pace to create a food crisis that will lead 2 billion or more people in hunger...

 

"It’s simple math: we can burn less than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide and stay below 2°C of warming — anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they’re planning to burn it all — unless we rise up to stop them." 

- Bill McKibben, http://www.350.org/