Hopenhagen Ambassador picked!

David Kroodsma was picked as the Hopenhagen Ambassador. He has an excellent profile, a scientist with a masters in climate science, he recently biked for 21000 miles from california to south america, educating and raising awareness about climate change.

View his winning video here.

The new stand of Saudi Arabia on Climate Change

Saudi Arabia surprised everyone with this press conference.

Saudi Arabia actually thought the scientists were using exaggeration tactics to scare politicians and civilians about climate change, thus signing a treaty that would bind countries to reduce CO2 emissions and with time stopping to import oil from the kingdom. Saudi Arabia is the #1 enemy of the whole effort that is being done by scientists and NGOs and some countries that are on board

You can check the press conference here. Watch it till the end.

"Helping those people that will most be affected by Climate Change is much more important than having castles"....

Saudis, you can be inspiring if you want to.

Stay tuned for Copehangen news which starts on December 7. Hopenhagen for Copenhagen! Let's do this.

This is HUGE! 24 October, It's Happening! 350

I am getting goosebumps when I keep seeing these photos, these people, every where around the world are showing the number 350. Keep checking www.350.org.

Here are some pics. And SOON we'll be getting a picture from Groupe Saint-Vincent Naccache of the Association of Scouts in Lebanon, who will be climbing the highest peak in Lebanon, Kornet el Sawda and taking a photo here. Info courtesy of Beirut/NTSC. More actions are taking place in Lebanon as well. I will try to get pictures about them too.

Now enjoy the positive energy!








And finally from Lebanon, Tony Dagher & Johnny Maroun hiked for a long time and reached the highest peak in Lebanon (3088 m) Kornet El Sawda.

Maldives Cabinet held a meeting underwater

Why you wonder? Well the beautiful Maldives is being threatened to disappear underwater because the sea water level will rise from now till 40 years. Why might this happen you wonder? because of the recent negative effects of the "man made" climate change.

Can something be done about it? Yes, but we need the world leaders to take action.



Maldives along many other islands and ports and cities might be covered either all of it or parts of it by water (please check this post to know about these extraordinary regions).





So why did the President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed (who in my opinion is a hero) call for the cabinet to hold a meeting under water? Well they got our attention didn't they? People should become aware of climate change and its negative effects and learn what the number 350 means and why it is extremely important!



Enjoy more pictures here, wow the Maldives is a beautiful place, it would be a shame if it's gone in our time, and its people to become refugees.

What can you do to help with saving them and yourself? Contact IndyACT (Lebanese NGO), tcktcktck (take action), 350.org (international campaign) or simply me and I'll tell you where to go next.

Man in the cube in Ein El Mreisseh and the dead fish

Don't forget to check the Man the Cube (Rami Eid) in Ein El Mreisseh, facing Mc Donalds. This event is organized by IndyACT aiming to raise global urgency on the critical dangers of global warming and to urge world leaders to take fast and effective action against climate change in Copenhagen this December.

Rami, or the man in the cube, has been there since yesterday and will continue to be there until tomorrow October 18th. He represents “the last man on earth” enduring a fierce struggle for survival against climate change effects. He will be living in the a transparent cube where everyone can see what he's doing.

He has a chair, a laptop with internet access where he blogs and tweets his experience and what's happening with him.

From the things the Man in the Cube said:

I just drank some cold water, and it was so refreshing. Since we're on that topic. Limit your showers to 5 minutes, or less if you can.

I will be going to check him out tonight, I have some questions to the passers by, I will let you know what they say.

Updated: I got some photos posted below. The water level has risen yesterday enough to stop Rami from standing on the ground. So he remained on the chair, not being able to move freely anymore in his world, completely bothered and cornered if we may say. The man in the cube tweeted his last message today hoping that everyone learned a lesson like he did.





Many passers-by were interested, so several IndyACT volunteers explained to them about the message they were trying to convey, and many passers by, especially young children threw stuff at Rami, a kid even through a dead fish on him. Ironic but actually makes a lot of sense as the climate change will result in having many water species die.

Are you going to do something about Climate Change?

- Don't recycle (it's a waste of time)
- Don't carpool (who needs to restrain themselves with other people in the morning)
- Don't mind fossil fuel, keep it burning (better economy)
- Don't be bothered to end CO2 gas emissions, in fact encourage it (will give you power over other)
- Don't encourage alternative energy (costs too much, bad for economy, waste of energy and human resources)
- 350 parts per million is a joke
- Don't reduce your carbon footprint (the more the cooler you are)
- Don't maintain green trees, chop them off and use their wood (+ they're blocking the view)
- Don't plant new trees (view of industrial factories with gray skies are more efficient these days)
- Don't save water, waste it even when unnecessary (can't you drink oil?)
- Don't try and keep the sea water level from rising (just scuba dive to see the Maldives...)
- Don't miss having refugees, we'll have climate refugees, (now that Palestinians are living happily ever after, we want more to take care of)
- Don't worry about having coral reefs die (it's not like they are important for the eco-system)
- Don't get upset when watching glaciers melt (what good are they for anyway)
- Don't be surprised from "weather" change (1, 2, 3 degrees warmer? It's no biggy, the warmer the sexier)
- Don't keep diseases from spreading (it's fine, only those poor people in poor countries get it, we're safe)
- Don't hope for your country to become carbon neutral
- Don't be sad when you see more species become extinct (dinosaur style)

And most importantly don't have children.

Because if you do have children, in 40 years don't feel guilty when your children look at you with disappointment, with depiction, because they know that you and people like you are the reason why the earth and the world has deteriorated, and especially because you could have done something when the time was right, but instead you were just too lazy to try and help prevent one of the most dangerous and serious "MAN-MADE" crisis... You didn't keep from the negative effects of Climate Change from happening. You were an irresponsible (dare I say human?) being!

Age of Stupid in Lebanon

The Age of Stupid is a new cinema documentary about this enormously ambitious drama-documentary-animation hybrid stars Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055, watching 'archive' footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change while we had the chance?

You can watch the trailer here.

And the great news is: this movie that has been an amazing hit all over the world will be playing in LEBANON

Venue: Empire Sofil
Date: 25 / 26 Oct
Time: 6pm

Tickets sold there.

What to blog about on Blog Action Day, this October 15th

On the note of the negative effects of Climate change...

..these are 10 places to see before it's too late, take from http://opentravel.com/blogs/10-places-to-see-before-its-too-late/

The ice sheets melt fast, the sea levels are rising, and the increase in storms and flooding becomes a serious issue. As scientists expect the sea level to rise around one meter (3.3 ft) by 2100, the global warming warnings sound more and more catastrophic. With such an increase in water levels many coastal areas around the globe are said to disappear under the waves.

Whether you believe all these climate change talks or not, it is worth taking a few secs to check out the list of the most immediately threatened places in the world...just in case.

 

1. The Maldives

The Maldives, the beautiful island country considered by many the paradise on earth, is the lowest country in the world being only 1.5 m above sea level on average. Therefore, it can be submerged by 2050/2100 due to the significant rise in sea level.

The Maldives. By muha...

The Maldives. By Photo-SG

 

2. Mt. Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of Africa, is rapidly losing its glaciers. Since 1912 the ice cap covering the top of the mountain has lost around 80% of its ice. The scientists predict that the ice on Kilimanjaro will be gone by 2015/2050.

Mt. Kilimanjaro. By Picture Taker 2.

Mt. Kilimanjaro. By Stig Nygaard

 

3. Alexandria. Egypt.

The city of Alexandria, an ancient Egyptian hub and the country's largest sea port, is said to be inundated by 2100. The Nile Delta is subsiding by around 5 mm (1/5 in) per year. Also, other towns located in the Nile Delta, such as Arish City, Matruh City and Port Said, are under the threat from rising sea level.

Alexandria. By Argenberg

Alexandria. By mighty stina

 

4. Tokyo

Tokyo is only one example of many coastal cities at risk due to rising sea levels, violent storms and flooding. The city's temperatures increase five times faster than an average global warming rate and the annual mean temperature has risen by about 3°C (37°F) over the past 100 year.

Tokyo. Odaiba. By Timo Nurmi

Tokyo, Kachidokibashi Bridge. By Ian Muttoo

 

 

5. Great Barrier Reef

The most catastrophic scenario envisages the Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef system in the world, to collapse within twenty years due to the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the water. The scientists predict that as the water gets warmer and warmer, the coral ecosystems around the world will start disappearing by mid-century or earlier.

Great Barrier Reef. By The.Rohit

Great Barrier Reef. By Maedi

 

6. The Columbia Glacier

The Alaska's Columbia Glacier, similarly to all glaciers the world over, has been melting at an increasing rate and it has thinned by around 1,300 feet (390 m) in some places over the last 25 years. Moreover, it is among the fastest moving glaciers around the globe and it is expected to retreat around 9 miles (14 km) in the next 20 years.

The Columbia Glacier. Alaska. By WordRidden

Columbia Glacier. Alaska. By tay-ha

 

7. Galapagos Islands

Home to amazing wildlife, the unique, remote islands of Galapagos can be seriously affected by the climate change due to their location. As the equatorial waters in the eastern Pacific are getting warmer and the sea level is rising, such Galapagos animals as the giant tortoise, marine iguana and Galapagos penguin as well as flightless cormorant, whose nests are susceptible to flooding, are under serious threat.

Galapagos Islands. Sea lions. By noam fein

Galapagos Islands. Marine Iguana. By mtchm

 

8. The Netherlands

About 60% of the Netherlands' population and about 27% of the country area are located below sea level. Such low-lying and flat countries as Holland are at greatest risk from the rising waters. To protect the seaside the Netherlands set up huge storm surge barriers - so huge that they can be seen from space.

The Netherlands. By irommanixs

Amsterdam. By MorBCN

 

9. The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea surface and shores are 1,385 ft (422 m) below sea level - it is the world's lowest point and also one of the saltiest bodies of water with the salinity of 33.7%. In contrast to the low-lying places that suffer from rising waters, the Dead Sea is evaporating, gradually losing its water. The water level is estimated to have dropped by 3 ft (1 m) per year from 1970. 

Dead Sea. By Mr. Kris

Sunrise over Dead Sea. By ePublicist

 

10. New York

According to the recent report prepared by the scientists of various research centers such as, among others, University of Toronto, the National Center for Atmospheric Research or the University of Bristol, New York may face a much faster rise in sea level than other coastal cities due to the local ocean currents, effects of gravity and water density. Moreover the city, is at great risk of hurricanes and flooding that can occur as a result of melting ice.

New York. By morrissey

New York. By kiki99

 

Blog Action Day 2009 - Climate Change

Gear up, prepare your keyboards, set your mind, put the screen in front of you, 15 October 2009 is Blog Action Day and the topic for this year after high demand is Climate Change.



Please help spread the word to other bloggers, let's make it happen.

For more info on climate change, please refer to older posts starting the month of August 2009. Or just check website of local Lebanese NGO www.indyact.org, the global 350 campaign, and the actual campaign www.tcktcktck.com

Save yourselves! Please help raise awareness about the subject.

World Leaders in New York for Climate talk (Except for Lebanon)

100 World Leaders such as Obama (USA), Sarcosy (France), and especially Presidents of China and India, countries that are playing a major role in the economy of this world and in the climate change issue are gathering in New York for Climate Week NYC.



Among those 100 World Leaders, most Arab countries are not present in the presidential form, and Lebanon is not even represented at all.

On Monday, September 21, Avaaz members and TckTckTck Campaign partners sent a deafening wake-up call on climate change to world leaders--with 2632 events in 134 countries, tens of thousands of phone calls etc... Video below

"Again Arab leaders missed yet another opportunity to defend the survival needs of the region from climate change impacts." said Wael Hmaidan, Executive Director of IndyACT. "While today’s climate summit is attended by Presidents of the US, France, China and many others, only Algeria participated at the Presidential level from the Arab region", added Hmaidan.

Yesterday, September 21st, more than 2000 actions took place in the world with one slogan "Wake up it is time for climate action".

Lebanon might not represented officially in probably the most important and fate-defining talks of our times today, however our NGO IndyACT which is always on the run, participating in all the negotiation sessions similar to COP15 that will take place in Copenhagen Denmark in December 2009, organized a get-together at Ain El Mreisseh Beirut at 8pm to which more than 100 activists, social media, environmentalists and other attended sounded the alarms of their clocks and mobile phones, honked their horns and banged their musical instruments, making a tremendous noise in a symbolic action, part of a global "Wake-Up call". The main purpose of this event was to tell the world leaders that are in New York today, one thing and one thing only "It is time for Climate action".



A solar enabled countdown clock will be put in that same spot to count the days that distance us from the most important negotiations to take place in this century, the COP15.



The purpose of COP15 is to achieve an ambitious, fair and binding agreement, a Climate Change treaty, for all countries.

In all of these sessions the Lebanese and many other Arab delegations have never taken the floor to speak even once. “The main Arab countries engaging the negotiations are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who only defend their oil trade. The Arab region is more than oil, and we have to know that if climate change is not addressed properly, we will lose our agriculture, water, economy and livelihood of our people in the region and globally”, declared Hmaidan.

IndyAct along with international NGOs and civil society worldwide consider the Copenhagen Summit as a key moment in our history, and call all the Arab governments to have an active and positive role in reducing global CO2 concentration in the atmosphere to 350 ppm (parts per million). 350 ppm is the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere that we need to reach to keep the global warming below two degrees Celsius and avoid catastrophic climate change impacts.

P.S. All the text blocks indented to the right are taken from IndyACT's press release 22/09/2009.
To know more about Climate Change, 350ppm, COP15, future actions, the science and politics behind, please refer to www.indyact.org, www.tcktcktck.org, www.350.org and some posts I have written in the near past about this subject 1 and 2.

Twestival Beirut suppording IndyACT & Climate Change

Twestival will take place Globally in more than 133 cities worldwide and is happening in Beirut for the first time. It will be tomorrow Sunday September the 13th at 4pm in Rawda Cafe, Ras Beirut.

Ticket: 10$

In Beirut, Twestival is supporting IndyACT, The League of Independent Activists, in its continuous campaigns to fight the increasing climate change crisis. There is less than 3 months to Copenhagen where world leaders will come together in the most important meeting of a generation to decide if they will save the planet or not. Unfortunately, our Arab governments still lag behind with no true leadership and avoiding responsibility. Twestival Beirut with the help of volunteers and civil society will help change that. They will call for climate change action and moving away from the path of destruction, continued poverty and despair.

Who's against doing something about climate change - Fact #1

Saudi Arabia does not want rich countries to cut on carbon emissions, because if they do, they won't buy a lot of fuel anymore, and if they don't, the Kingdom won't sell a lot of fuel anymore. Monetary compensation did not convince the kingdom, why you ask? Because it's all about power.

Saudi Arabia influences smaller and weaker Arab countries in the climate change negotiations.

Power vs Survival

And we wait to see what happens in COP15, Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009

Vote climate change for Blog Action Day 2009

Blog Action Day is a single day–October 15–when bloggers write about a particular topic in order to raise awareness. Last year, the issue was poverty, and over 12,000 bloggers covered it, reaching a total audience more than 13 million readers.

Change.org, the organizers of Blog Action Day, are running a 5-question, multiple-choice survey to determine the issue for this year's event.

As you might imagine, we think that issue should be climate change. Because it falls on October 15, Blog Action Day presents an excellent opportunity to set the stage for October 24's International Day of Climate Action. Plus, climate change negotiations on the Copenhagen scale don't happen every year.

If you agree, take 30 seconds and complete the Blog Action Day survey, selecting 'climate change' as the answer to the first question.

(And no I am not sorry for nagging your head about this issue!)

Protest-Camping in London to raise awareness about Climate Change

Ah... civilized societies!

The first day of 'Climate Camp 2009' proved a drizzly one for the hundreds who pitched up to Blackheath to raise awareness about climate change.

They had gathered at six London locations before noon, waiting for a text message telling them where the campsite would be.

The ruse served not only to confuse the police but the protesters as well, as there was a two-hour delay in relaying the information.

But just after 2pm yesterday, the messages started coming in.....

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209152/Test-police-thousands-climate-change-activists-prepare-secret-protest.html

On that note, Friday 28th of August will be 100 days away from the Copenhagen meeting (COP15), where a treaty about Climate Change will be agreed on, so on the local scene, something is going to happen in Downtown Beirut at 9pm! Be there.

Topic Selection for Blog Action Day 2009 - Help us pick Climate Change

Hi Everyone,

Blog Action Day takes place every year on October 15th, where all blogs blog about the same topic all over the world. They're doing a survey in order to select the topic that all blogs will be talking about, so let us all vote for Climate Change and spread it as much as we can.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vgxlY3JzQGvGg_2fmM_2fr240g_3d_3d

Kind Regards,
Liliane

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Blog Action Day Team <mailout@blogactionday.org>
Date: Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 4:08 AM
Subject: Big News: Change.org to lead Blog Action Day 2009

Hey BAD bloggers!

It's almost that time of year again, and this time I have some
exciting news to announce.

When we started Blog Action Day two years ago, we had no idea
how large it would become.  Now that it's grown beyond our
wildest expectations, we've decided that it's time Blog Action
Day had a more permanent home where it can continue to expand.

To that end, we've asked the social issue blog network
Change.org to take over the project and make Blog Action
Day bigger than ever.  I'm thrilled to say that they've
agreed, and their team has already started working on
preparing for this year's event on October 15th.

As a first step, the Change.org team wants to get your
thoughts on the selection of this year's topic.  To give
your feedback on the topics being considered or suggest
your own, click the link below to a short 5-question survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vgxlY3JzQGvGg_2fmM_2fr240g_3d_3d

If you have any questions, additional suggestions, or want to
get involved beyond blogging, email Robin Beck, Change.org's
Director of Organizing, at robin@change.org.

Thanks for all the support – we look forward to having you
all involved in this year's event, and you'll being hearing
more from the folks at Change.org over the coming weeks as
we all get ready for Blog Action Day 2009.

Finally, don't forget to add us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/blogactionday

Cheers,
Collis

BAD Coordinator 2007/2008

Climate Change v/s Global Warming, What is Climate change?

In this post, I will be talking about what Climate Change (also referred to as Global Change) is, what Global Warming is, and the difference between them.

Global Warming

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the last century.

The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by gases in the atmosphere warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface.

So in summary, with the greenhouse effect, the more the CO2, the more the absorption of the sun's radiation by the Earth, thus the increase of the global temperature. (See Photo)

Climate Change

Climate change is any long-term change in the statistics of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. Climate change may occur in a specific region, or across the whole Earth.

Lately, a change in the climate is occurring fast, and we can see those changes today. To name a few, increase in the sea water level (see previous post about the Maldives Islands to disappear, causing what we call Climate Refugees), increase in the spreading of diseases (e.g. the Dengue fever in Bangladesh), increase in the number of cyclones (e.g. in Oman), bleaching of coral reefs, glaciers melting, etc...

As now climate change will be affecting the whole Earth, it is also being referred to as Global Change.

Difference between Global Warming and Climate Change

Put in simple words, we can say that Climate change (the recent of course) is the consequence of Global warming. Global warming already happened, climate change is happening as we speak, and the target of these NGOs by December 2009 in Copenhagen is to introduce a treaty that will let the countries work on mitigating (decreasing) the effects of climate change on Earth as much as possible, by setting the goal of decreasing the gas emissions by 80% by 2050, to reach the 350 ppm (parts per million) CO2 in the atmosphere (it's around 378ppm now), to prevent from letting the temperature of the earth increase by 2 degrees Celsius (more details on this in future posts) which if they don't, it will have catastrophic and disastrous effects on Earth.

In future posts, I will be telling you about the effects of Climate Change on Lebanon directly, the difference between Mitigation (increase in gas emissions activities) and adaptation (in case the tipping point in climate change is reached, what will we do then), the science and the politics behind Climate Change and the most common words and expressions you will be hearing that are related to Climate change.