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East County News Service
October 11, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Yesterday, six local volunteers rejuvenated eight old olive trees that were once part of a commercial orchard in the El Cajon Valley. They were among 7,000 groups in 188 countries participating in global work parties organized by 350.org, a group working to stop global warming. The name refers to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the earth’s atmosphere--the amount believed by top climate scientists to be the maximum threshhold to sustain life on earth.
In early 2008, scientist Jim Hansen and a team of experts on climate change conducted studies and concluded that “350 parts per million CO2 was the upper limit if we wished to have a planet `similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted,’” the website www.350.org states.
Local residents Adam Woods, Stephanie Weidemann, Jamie Young, Joyce Bartyzel, Melanie Bennett, and Wren Osborn donated their time and labor to revitalize the olive orchard.
“Once all the trees on that land are producing again, they will supply olives to the local community,” Osborn said. “Why is that important? We can’t waste energy transporting food for long distances. We must grow as much food as we can locally.”
The global work parties aimed to show world leaders that the people are eager to “get to work to solve the climate crisis, sending "a clear message to our political leaders, 'If we can get to work, so can you,'” Osborn added.
Are we past the point of no return now?
No, say the organizers of 350.org. “We're like the patient that goes to the doctor and learns he's overweight, or his cholesterol is too high. He doesn't die immediately—but until he changes his lifestyle and gets back down to the safe zone, he's at more risk for heart attack or stroke. The planet is in its danger zone because we've poured too much carbon into the atmosphere, and we're starting to see signs of real trouble: melting ice caps, rapidly spreading drought. We need to scramble back as quickly as we can to safety.”
To reduce levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and get back to 350 ppm will require use of renewable energy and a shift away from use of fossil fuels. Other steps include growing as much food as possible locally, instead of transporting goods and foods across the world, wasting resources.
On the website, 350.org further details how to reduce carbon emissions to reach 350: “Make no mistake—getting back to 350 means transforming our world. It means building solar arrays instead of coal plants, it means planting trees instead of clear-cutting rainforests, it means increasing efficiency and decreasing our waste. Getting to 350 means developing a thousand different solutions—all of which will become much easier if we have a global treaty grounded in the latest science and built around the principles of equity and justice. To get this kind of treaty, we need a movement of people who care enough about our shared global future to get involved and make their voices heard.”
The Hansen team’s studies included verification for the first time by real-time observation and also by reams of new paleo-climatic data. The 350 ppm number as the tipping point for survival of many species on earth is supported by other evidence. Just this week, for instance, oceanographers reported that longterm atmospheric levels above 360 ppm would doom coral reefs worldwide.
Many other groups support the efforts of www.350.org, Osborn noted.
A number of small island nations and less developed country governments have joined leaders such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in enunciating firmly the 350 target and equating it with survival. Climate coalition groups like TckTckTck have also endorsed the target, as have a growing coalition of hundreds of organizational allies.
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