Bettina, Adelaide Australia
If you are connected into the Seres community, you may have received a request lately asking you to take a photo of yourself with a number between 1 and 350 to raise awareness about the ‘350 movement‘. Not such a hard task, but what’s it all about? Well, over the coming weeks as we lead up to the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, I will be using these photos to create a short video which will be used to raise awareness of climate change and promote the importance of the number 350. And since in the process of asking for these images I have received many questions around ‘Why 350?’, I thought that I would take the time to explain a little more…
The Concept
Like most of my ideas, I kind of jumped into this one without really realising what an ambitious task I had set myself. Heading out into the Bridge to a Cool Planet rally here in Vancouver last weekend, I decided that I would start shooting some photos to make a promotional video for Seres. And since 350 was the theme of the day, that’s what I worked with. After explaining to the 50th person who I was, what Seres was about, why I wanted to take a photo of them AND why the number 350 was important it began to dawn on me just how large the task was. So after collecting about 100 photos and more than a few strange looks from worried Canadians, I headed back home and got emailing, with plans to rope in friends and family for a few more. As I started sending out emails and trying to explain myself over again, I at least started to see a purpose for making this movie: in terms of raising awareness around ’350′, I have certainly been explaining it to a lot of people these last few days.
Rowan, Schilthorn Switzerland
It was shortly after the emails had found their targets and the results started making their way back in (and my fingers were taking a well-earned rest from the keyboard) that this little project really started to grow on me. Yes, in the last 5 days I have written more emails and spent more time photo-shopping into the wee hours of the morning than I care to think about, but it has definitely been worth it. At the receiving end of the photos it has been a heartwarming process, as images from friends and family have worked their way back to me from around the world, displaying all sorts of creativity, imagination and spunk. I have received photos from Canada, the US, Guatemala, Australia, Amsterdam and the UK, with images still to come from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Indonesia and Chile…to name just a few. And as these images trickled in from around the world, the global reach of this little project really made the global scale of climate change hit home.
While wars have been fought and won (or lost), famines and times of plenty have come and gone and depression, recession or economic crises have all affected various countries at some point in time, never before in our history as a human race have we faced such an issue that will affect the lives of each and every one of us. Regardless of race, religion, language, colour, ethnic background or political affinity there is not one among us whose life will not be impacted by what lies ahead – unless we choose to do something about it. And that’s where the number 350 comes in.
350 What?
So 350 is our target goal – or rather 350ppm (parts per million). This number represents what scientists and experts, after years of studies, have agreed is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. It’s the number that we must achieve in order to stop runaway global warming – the tipping point at which everything becomes unstable. The challenge is, we are already at 390ppm and climbing! This doesn’t mean we’re doomed, but it does mean that we have some hard work in front of us to bring things back on track. The United Nations conference in Copenhagen this December represents the best chance we have at achieving this – to get an international agreement that will start to see emissions being reduced. And to make this happen, we need a movement of people who care enough about our shared global future to get involved and make their voices heard.
“If we can make this number known across the planet, that mere fact will exert some real pressure on negotiators. We need people to understand that 350 marks either success or failure for these climate negotiations. It’s not an easy fight—the other side has the power of the fossil fuel industry. But we think the voice of ordinary people will be heard, if it’s loud enough. That’s all of our job—to make enough noise that we can’t be easily ignored. ”
(SOURCE: 350.org)
What Can You Do?
The most important first step is to really understand what this level of climate change means to you, your life and your family, and why you should be part of the global 350 movement. The links below are some interesting resources for understanding what different climate change scenarios may look like. Take a few minutes to have a look through, and decide for yourself if you want to add your voice to the global community. And if you do, you can start by being a part of the video that we are making…simply send an email to info[at]projectseres[dot]org and we will send you a number to get creative with.
- What Does a Global Temperature Rise Look Like? – UK Government
This is a great interactive map that shows the impacts of a 4degC rise in temperature
- 350.org – 350.org
A great resource explaining the scientific background behind 350, and how you can get involved. Also contains fantastic images and footage from 350 movements around the world
