Heading For Extinction

Heading for Extinction (and What to Do About It)

Wednesday, Feb 19

We are in the midst of an unprecedented climate crisis and ecological breakdown that threatens the continuation of life as we know it: record atmospheric carbon levels, global temperature rise, deforestation, plastic pollution, mass extinction of species. Join us to hear the latest information on the state of our planet, and learn how to become part of a global movement of social transformation for a livable future.

The canaries are dead. You know, those small songbirds brought into mines to detect levels of toxicity in the air. When poisonous gases accumulate, killing the canary, the miners know they are in trouble and have to act fast.

Today our “canaries” take many forms, from the billion (yes, billion) animals killed by Australian wildfires, to the crops dying from African droughts and floods in the Midwest, to the 23 million (yes, million) human beings forcibly displaced from their homes in 2017 by extreme weather events (the Brookings Institute.) Make no mistake: the climate crisis is under way and we ignore it at our peril.

Our situation is dire, but is it hopeless? No, say the articles and letters this paper runs each week that describe our neighbors’ efforts to get out the word and to do something about the climate emergency. We are not alone in our concern; from this we can take heart. Together we might just be able to “pull it off” and bequeath a habitable planet to our children.

What this will take is courage (from the Latin word for “heart”), the courage first to face our situation and the courage to then take effective action. We invite you to begin or continue this journey by attending “Headed for Extinction (and What to Do about It”), an Extinction Rebellion presentation at Backyard Growers, 3 Duncan Street, Gloucester, 6:30-8:00pm. Together we will examine the science behind the urgent warnings and explore the kinds of action that may yet divert us from our current, catastrophic course.

May we hearten one another with our care for our one and only Planet Earth.


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