Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers taking action through their blogs, and this year the issue of global importance is climate change. An issue close to my sensibilities.
Climate change has become a lot more press-worthy than when I was in undergrad and was first introduced to me by then Dr Coleen Vogel. How fitting it is then, that last night I went to her Inaugural Lecture, now that she's a full professor at Wits and was inspired by a glimpse into her research into how people deal climate variability and her role in the IPCC as a broker between African scientists and government policy makers.
Coleen, an inspiring speaker, reminded her audience about the projected climate changes at a global scale, and a continental scale - what's in store for Africa - and then at a regional scale and what we can expect here on the sub-continent of Africa. Some scary stuff if you let it get to you. Some days it gets to me - especially when I consider not just the change in climate alone but all the knock-on effects that are, in some places on the planet, already evident. This is the stuff that I'm interested in finding out more about. About how our planet works and how humans are a part of that system. Leonie Joubert's book Scorched is a wonderful work explaining both the science of climate change and the impacts that are projected for southern Africa.
The press now is filled with ideas that when each person making more ethical choices about the food they eat and the products they use we can all make a difference to the emissions that started all of this in the first place. And there are many organisations that are mobilising individuals and families to make changes. Check out 350.org and Earth Hour's "Vote Earth" campaigns and get involved. These movements are needed to make the policy makers take note that communities care and are willing to make a difference and help. Find a great book, printed on sustainable paper, filled with tips of how to make little changes daily that will have global ripples. I was inspired by the ideas in Simon Gear's book:
Going Green: 365 Ways to Change Our World: 365 Ways to change our world because it's relevant to all South Africans, presented in a practical hopeful and amusing style.
This issue is close to my heart. Thanks Blog Action Day for an reason to make it public.
