What can one person do, when 6.8 billion are frying the planet?

by frankejames for Moving Planet

Community

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday, Sep. 23, 2011 Friday, Sep. 23, 2011 at 4:00:02pm PDT

We could talk over coffee about the threats: heat waves, floods, food shortages to name a few. But... you might decide to walk the dogs
Because what can one person do when 6.8 billion are frying the planet?
I go for a walk on a sizzling summer day and think about that question
CO2 keeps rising, but our leaders keeping loafing.
Will they take action before we're all toast?
Deepak Chopra says not to worry about Global Warning. That worries me...
Whatever... Flip worry around and it becomes foresight
Sadly, the wooly mammoth did not possess foresight
Charles Darwin wrote, 'It is not the most intelligent species that survive; it is the one most adaptable to change.
What can one person do when 6.8 billion are frying the planet?
Of course, some are being fried more dan doing the frying
Should we ponder the cruel irony that fossil fuels may cause the extinction on mankind?
I can't help worrying about myself and my family
Maybe we would be safer in the far north?
Are cities the safest place of a climate catastrophe hits?
Half of the world's population lives in cities
We can't all flee
to ecsape the 1. Extreme Storms, 2. Floods, 3. Heat Waves, 4. Power Blackouts, 5. Water Failures, 6. Sewer Backups, 7. Invasive Insects. 8. Food Shortages, etc., etc.,
But it is a mammoth job to adapt the city to a changing and more threatening climate
How far ahead is the city planning?
I ask the foreman
Will those pipes be big enough to withstand a storm like Aug '05?
He can't say but the new pipes are NOT bigger/
I wonder, do they have a plan for the floods, droughts and extreme weather of the future?
I google city, climate change, plan, toronto
And I discover they are worried too!
1 storm with a giant price tag -- $5,000,000 -- caught their attention
The city drew up a plan for storms, floods, extreme heat, droughts, insects. I am thrilled!
When I read it the light comes on!
When we sold our car in 2007, we were mitigating (reducing) out CO2.
And when we built our permeable driveway, unknowingly, we were part of the adaptation plan to reduce storm-water run-off and floods.
Even the trees we planted to provide shade are in the city's adaptation plan.
Now it makes sense what one person can do.
Each of us needs to adapt to climate change. Don't be fooled by the global leaders loafing.
Local leaders, and cities, are making plans to adapt to climate change (because it is affecting them now!)
You need to make your own adaptation plan: floods, heat waves, CO2, droughts, food shortages.

How can YOU take action? What's YOUR plan?

1. DOES YOUR CITY HAVE A PLAN? Use Google to find out if your region has a Mitigation and Adaptation Plan for climate change, like Toronto and New York have. (And if they don't, then press your local politicians to develop one!)

2. MAKE YOUR OWN PLAN. Develop your own personal Mitigation and Adaptation Plan. There are many actions each of us can take to protect ourselves and our property from floods, heat waves, power shortages, water shortagesÃ¢ÂÂ¦ etc. See the Resources below for ideas such as this one from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction: Handbook for Reducing Basement Flooding.

3. TAP INTO ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORKS: Get the ball rolling by participating in environmental action, or financially supporting, these environmental organizations and others: Moving Planet, 350, NRDC, greenpeaceusa, and Sierra_Club.

Let's work together and tell our leaders: STOP frying the planet

Credits:

Franke James merges science, art and storytelling to inspire people to take action and "do the hardest thing first" for the planet. Franke uses her skills as an artist, photographer and writer to create visual essays on environmental and social issues. She is the author of two award-winning books, Bothered By My Green Conscience and Dear Office-Politics, the game everyone plays.

"Cruel Irony" illustration features: Tar sands photo by © Greenpeace

Finch Avenue on August 2005: Photos courtesy Jane-Finch.comCover: "Ahead of the Storm" City of Toronto climate change brochure

Woolly Mammoth on Road photo-illustration by Franke James, using antique mammoth engraving © istockphotos.

Heat Island graphic by Clean Air Partnership

Resources:

Franke’s Original Slideshow for 10/10/10 Event: Download the slide presentation (Adobe Acrobat pdf): http://www.frankejames.com/...

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben

The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet by Heidi Cullen.

TUCCN: Toronto Urban Climate Change Network

Ahead of the Storm:City of Toronto highlights from climate change report

Environment Canada’s Climate Change Hazards by geographic region

Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction: Handbook for Reducing Basement Flooding (2009)

ICLR Home Builder’s Guide (2009)

New York City Plan for Climate Change