This post consists of two videos. The first – the Last Hours – is essential viewing for all of us who care about preventing the catastrophic effects of global warming. The second takes us on a path of hope – the Live Earth road to Paris2015 – a path uniting a billion voices to deliver a single message to world leaders: Take Climate Action Now.
Last Hours
Last Hours is a captivating, extremely compelling appeal meant to awaken politicians and business leaders to take climate change action and stop runaway catastrophic climate change. Few films have managed to capture the sense of urgency as well as Last Hours. In the context of science telling us that emissions need to peak by 2015 and then come down, and with politicians doing little to reflect this urgency, this is a much needed asset for the climate movement. ~ Kumi Naidoo, International Director, Greenpeace International
Published September 28, 2013
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The fossil fuel industry has broken lots of human laws over the last century. Now the big laws — Nature’s laws — are catching up to it. As Last Hours makes clear, humankind must choose to rein in its carbon emissions now, or Nature will rein them in for us. ~ Denis Hayes, Founder, Earth Day Network
Last Hours is an alarming video that captures the state of emergency we face with climate disruption–yet at the same time we must recognize that there is real hope: the clean energy industry is rapidly growing, we are making headway in reducing carbon pollution, and by working together we can turn things around. ~ Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club
In the 18th century, Edmund Burke wrote, ‘Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.’ Many years later, Last Hours makes clear how much we have to learn from our planet’s history to truly understand the potent threat of trapped methane. This film acts as a call to action on climate that we must heed. ~ Maggie Fox, former President and CEO, Climate Reality Project
The Path of Hope on the Road to Paris2015
Carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels is changing our climate and transforming our world. From more destructive and more frequent climate-related extreme weather events and rising sea levels, to climate refugees, crop failure and water scarcity, the consequences are profound. Last Hours expertly explains how we got here, and what will happen if we don’t work together to stop it. It is a needed and urgent call to action. ~ Al Gore, Chairman, Climate Reality Project
Live Earth Road to Paris is uniting a billion voices to deliver a single message to world leaders: take climate action now.
Published on Jan 21, 2015
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There is a very fine line between feeling a sense of urgency versus a sense of hopelessness. Many of us become paralyzed by the the enormity and magnitude of climate change issues. We feel the imminence of extreme weather and climate disruption. It’s coming! We know something needs to be done but rather than taking action, we can easily just go into the hopeless phase and end up doing nothing. Desperation, guilt and depression can follow, further compounding the problem.
Activism – Best Antidote to Hopelessness
This is the year of climate. This is the year leading up to the Paris2015 COP21 (Conference of the Parties) climate talks. These next negotiations are crucial for the success of climate action and to ensure that our civilization is not in its last hours. What is needed is political will. We must pressure world leaders to not fall into the trap of political compromise and unworkable solutions as they have for the past two decades of climate talks.
We can effect change by continuing “to shine the global spotlight on the nations convening in Paris this year and deliver a single message to all leaders – Take Climate Action Now.” (Source: Live Earth Overview)
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Rolly Montpellier is the Founder and Managing Editor of BoomerWarrior.Org. He’s a Climate Reality leader, a blogger and an Climate Activist. Rolly has been published in several online publications – Climate Change Guide, World Daily, Examiner, The Canadian, 350Ottawa, ClimateMama, MyEarth360, GreenDivas, The Elephant, Countercurrents, Georgian Bay News.
Some of Rolly’s articles have also appeared in newspapers such as The Hill Times and the Kingston Whig. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
Thanks for links and inspiring thoughts Rolly. Indeed, worldwide events can certainly help to voice our concerns around the heating planet.
I’m not sure that the mass majority of people are really worried about the consequences of inaction yet.
Certainly, I see little recognition of the problems in South East Asia. Here in the large cities, the fumes from millions of cars cause a choking, toxic air. The carbon released falls as black dust that coats pedestrians and makes their clothes filthy. Yet cars are on the increase on a level that most Western nations have never had in their cities. It is frightening to see the industrial development. Most cities here cannot afford to retire its polluting transport, much of which, seems to run on “a belt and braces” repair system.
The first world will have to help these people along on a quest for cleaner technologies. When people earn on average in Bangkok only earn between $11.50 to $19.50 Canadian equivalent per day (in a regular paid job), then you will understand how difficult it is for them to afford any kind of change.
It will need some very strong leadership and the will of every nation to chip in and help the cause. Without unity and the will to help our fellow man, wherever he or she maybe, we may have an even more unequal world than we have now
We must continue to chip away at those deep social and economic models that are hindering climate action initiatives. Evolution is slow and painful and may simply not be enough to save our civilization. At some point, perhaps hundreds of years from now, the planet will only be able to support a limited number of species as unimaginable as this may seem.
As always, I appreciate your responses.
Like you, I am more worried about the world we are leaving our children, let us hope we can do them good and right…..and finally act like a species that truly wants to survive into the future
Right on Dave. Let’s make the right things happen.
You continue to chip away – it’s a good thing to do, against the odds.
But I will opt for “the last hours”
“Optimism is the absence of realism”
Thank you Robin for your comment. I like the quote “Optimism is the absence of realism”. Very appropriate for the times we live in.
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