ANNOUNCEMENT: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF DIRECT ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE G8

Just today we read the alarming report that the southern oceans have or are losing their carbon sink abilities decades earlier than was even expected. This would indicate a much more rapid rise in global warming than had up to now been predicted.

Climate change itself is weakening one of the principal "sinks" absorbing carbon dioxide - the Southern Ocean around Antarctica - a new study has found.

The four-year study by scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry reveals that an increase in winds over the Southern Ocean, caused by greenhouse gases and ozone depletion, has led to a release of stored CO2 into the atmosphere and is preventing further [ocean] absorption of the greenhouse gas.

Lead author Dr Corinne Le Quéré of UEA and the BAS said, "This is the first time that we've been able to say that climate change itself is responsible for the saturation of the Southern Ocean sink. This is serious."

Folks, it's up to us!


The following is from Rising Tide.

Friday 8th June 2007
International Day of Direct Action against Climate Change and the G8.
Direct Action for Climate Justice – Resistance is Self Defense!

We all know the terrifying statistics: a million species extinct by 2050, 19 of the 20 hottest years on record since 1980, Greenland and Antarctica melting, droughts, floods, famines … the G8 have had over 30 years to address climate change and only succeeded in providing trillions in subsidies to the very industries that are destroying our planet and our future. And while the G8 continues to line their pockets, island states disappear and hundreds of thousands die as a result of the freak weather conditions caused by their irrational and uncontrollable obsession with never ending economic growth.

We have a ten-year window to act. As the megalomaniac G8 leaders meet in Germany, masked behind a barrier of fences and soldiers, intent on leading us further towards catastrophic and irreversible climate chaos, we must shout, scream and roar ‘no more’. Now is the time to take direct action and shut them down, them and their climate criminal industry friends!

The 8th of June International Day of Action Against Climate Change and the G8 has been called by the International Rising Tide Network. This is a call for autonomous, decentralized actions appropriate for your town, city, or local area. Use this international day of action to support local struggles against oil refineries, gas pipelines, strip mines and coal-fired power plants. Disrupt the financial backers of the fossil fuel industry. Organise workshops to spread sustainable post-petroleum living skills. Find a weak point in the infrastructure of resource exploitation and throw a literal or symbolic wrench in the works. It’s time to visit your local polluters and give 'em hell!

We already know of actions planned across the UK, North America, Germany, Canada and Australia and that’s just the start! By 8th June actions will be planned around the world. Pass this call out on to all environmental justice, climate action, radical sustainability and related movements in all the G8 countries and the Global South.

Rising Tide will create a collection of outreach and agit-prop materials (including this call out in five different languages) that can be used by groups around the world to organise locally. These materials will be downloadable from www.risingtide.org.uk and http://risingtidenorthamerica.org.
Direct action and civil disobedience are the rational response in this time of crisis. Support the 8th of June International Day of Direct Action against Climate Change and the G8! Tell us about planned actions for climate justice being planned in your community. Contact us - info@risingtide.org.uk and contact@risingtidenorthamerica.org

In June 2007 the G8 will understand the meaning of rebellion, revolt and revolution. Their recipe for catastrophe will be met with our worldwide resistance!

Also, this from Rising Tide/North America.

Convergence For Climate Action August 8-14th
The Convergence for Climate Action will be a week of workshops, strategizing, networking, and direct action aimed at uniting and furthering a no compromise climate justice movement. There are currently convergences planned for the pacific northwest, the northeast, and the southeast with other locations possible as well. The convergences are timed to coincide with the UK’s Camp for Climate Action.

West coast contact: cascadia@risingtidenorthamerica.org
Southeast contact: risingtide@mountainrebel.net
Northeast contact: northeast@risingtidenorthamerica.org
Other locations: contact@risintidenorthamerica.org