In my last blog for Extinction Rebellion I talked about the grief I felt around climate change. How it touches every aspect of my life, how it mingles with fear, and how to weaponise it through rebellion.
In this one, I am going to talk about anger.
WHY I AM ANGRY
1. With the current level of inaction from our governments we are going to breach 2°C of global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels. When we do, we will begin to see a vicious circle of breakdown and warming fuelled by feedback loops within our natural world. Breakdowns like this have caused every mass extinction on the planet other than the one that killed the dinosaurs. [1]
2. We have a 1% chance of hitting the Paris Agreement 1.5°C target, and a 5% chance of keeping it less that 2°C. The range of warming we are looking at (2°C – 4.9°C) will happen within the lifetime of young people alive today. [2]
3. By 2050, one in nine people alive will be on the move due to climate change; not just between countries but in order to flee coastal flooding. [3]
4. Societal collapse is inevitable, and it is coming soon. The conditions we are currently seeing are a breeding ground for authoritarianism, fascism and totalitarianism. [4]
5. Human extinction is possible on our current trajectory, with all aspects of climate change taken into account. 1.5°C of warming is dangerous, 3°C catastrophic by 2050 and beyond 5°C existing as an unknown, beyond catastrophic. [5][6]
Whatever these facts make you feel, we must agree on one thing: that now is the time to rise, rebel for and reclaim our futures, for the future of all life on earth.
This week, XR have launched their week of International Rebellion, where tens of thousands of people around the world are marching, protesting and demanding that leaders tell the truth about our situation. They are calling for immediate action from authorities around the world, and for citizen’s assemblies to oversee government actions and hold them to account.
XR has grown immensely across the globe, driven by international realisations of how close to collapse we are without action, how grossly unfair it is that the worst impacts are falling on the poor, and how our natural world is imploding around us.
If you’re not involved yet, consider this a sign that it is time.
We have less than 12 years to fundamentally change how we relate to each other and the world around us, but pioneers have been trailblazing ways to do this for decades, and you are not alone in wanting a better future. It is possible, but you have to fight for it.
Now is the time to join that fight.​
DIRECT YOUR ANGER – 5 THINGS YOU CAN DO
1. Face up to reality, grieve for it, get angry and voice that anger with those you trust.
2. Join the Extinction Rebellion. Their global movement is built upon peaceful civil disobedience. They consider revolution part of a moral duty to rebel against governments who remain criminally complicit by not urgently tackling the greatest threat our species has ever faced.
3. Take part in the week of rebellion, and make space in your life to carry on fighting, be that through changing things where you work to shifting what you spend your money on.
4. Not everyone can join XR in the streets, even if your heart is with them. Where you can, donate to their rebellion and spread their message by following them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Engage with what they’re doing to share their message. This movement is global, but they need your support and backing within wider circles.
5. Remember that you are not alone. The problems we face are not insurmountable, but they are unavoidable. We can take courage in the fact people are acting, but you have skills and areas you can influence as well. You are needed now more than ever.
We are now in a position, not of hope, but of courage. Despite the enormity of things, we must find the courage to aim for something better than the worst predictions; and at least try to be an ancestor our children and grandchildren will know had tried.
Here’s an anthem to get you started.
References:
- [1]Â http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/33/8252.full.pdf
- [2]Â https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3352
- [3]Â https://rebellion.earth/rebel/
- [4]Â http://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf
- [5]Â http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/13/1618481114
- [6]Â http://climateextremes.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/What-Lies-Beneath-V3-LR-Blank5b15d.pdf
