Yahoo News 24 Oct 09;
NEW YORK (AFP) – From Asia to the Americas via Europe and the Middle East, activists around the planet have protested in an effort to mobilize public opinion against global warming 50 days ahead of a crucial UN climate summit.
Many of the thousands that gathered on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House to kick off the event waved placards bearing the logo 350, a figure scientists believe is the maximum parts per million of CO2 that the atmosphere can bear to avoid runaway global warming.
In New York's Times Square, a crowd of demonstrators gathered as giant screens beamed in images from around the world. Organizers told the activists that events had taken place in "more than 180 countries" at 5,200 events.
In France, politicians received a "wake up" call from several hundred Parisians who chose clocks as their symbol.
Protesters who met in a central square in Paris had set their alarm clocks and mobile phones set to ring at 12:18 pm (1018 GMT) in reference to the closing date of the UN summit in Copenhagen, which lasts from December 7-18.
The summit is considered crucial as world leaders will try to thrash out a new treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions in place of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
But senior officials from the United States and China, the world's two largest polluters, have warned the talks may fail.
There is growing concern that a treaty deal in Copenhagen could be hampered by issues that include US domestic politics and the problems of securing agreement between developed and developing countries.
In Berlin, some 350 protesters wearing masks with the face of German Chancellor Angela Merkel came together in front of the Brandenburg Gate in the city center.
In London, more than 600 people gathered beneath the London Eye Ferris wheel by the River Thames to arrange themselves into the shape of the number five, according to organisers Campaign against Climate Change.
An aerial photograph of the event will be added to pictures of a giant "three" and "zero" from around the world.
"Hundreds of thousands of people are taking part (globally) and for us that's so important, to have people out on the streets," campaign activist Abi Edgar told AFP. "We want serious action on climate change and we want it now."
Across the Thames, some 100 musicians playing trumpets, trombones, saxophones and clarinets gathered outside parliament to play the same note -- an F, made by the frequency of 350 Hz -- for 350 seconds, organizers said.
In the Lebanese capital Beirut hundreds of activists, many wearing snorkels, held demonstrations in key archaeological sites.
They gathered around the Roman ruins in central Beirut, in the ancient eastern city of Baalbek and along the coast, carrying placards bearing the 350 logo.
"It's not the first time Beirut will have gone under water," Wael Hmaidan of the IndyACT group organizing Beirut's protests told AFP, explaining the goggle-wearing, "but this time it's going down because of climate change, and not earthquakes."
Environmental activists in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul staged their protest in a boat, unfurling a banner reading "Sun, wind, right now!" under the main bridge linking Asia and Europe over the Bosphorus Strait, Anatolia news agency reported.
They then sailed to the ancient Maiden's Tower, which sits on a tiny islet in the Bosphorus, and unfurled another banner reading "Jobs, climate, justice," the report said.
Events in Asia included demonstrators in Dhaka riding bicycles to highlight one way of cutting emmissions.
In Jakarta, around 100 students from the London School of Public Relations gathered to form the symbolic number 350, coordinator Candy Tolosa said on Detik.com news website.
Australians kick off world climate change protest
Yahoo News 24 Oct 09;
SYDNEY (AFP) – Climate activists gathered on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House Saturday and along the city's beaches to kick off an international day of protest about global warming.
Along the famous sands of Bondi Beach and across the span of the Harbour Bridge protesters gathered with placards bearing the logo 350 to call for a cut in carbon emissions to 350 parts per million (ppm), organisers said.
Thousands of people gathered on the steps of the Opera House for an outdoor concert and formed a giant 350 with their bodies, one of more than 200 events to be staged across the continent, said spokeswoman Blair Palese.
Church bells at the city's largest cathedral sounded 350 times, while groups ranging from scuba divers to Frisbee players gathered to stage events Australia-wide.
Similar stunts were planned at some 4,000 locations in more than 170 countries across the globe, including the Eiffel Tower, Times Square and the Himalayas, said Palese.
The protest marks 50 days until world leaders meet in Copenhagen to thrash out a new climate change treaty.
"Our global emissions are now perilously high, at 387 ppm," Palese said.
"The majority of expert scientists now say this has to come down to 350 ppm to avoid dangerous climate change. 350.org is calling for our political leaders make this their target."
Australia has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels if an "ambitious" target is agreed in Copenhagen.
