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| SUNY Fredonia students gathered in Steele Hall Arena to form the number “350,” in support of a global “Day of Action” to educate people about the high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. |
Students at SUNY Fredonia joined their counterparts across the nation on Saturday, Oct. 24, heralded as a global Day of Action on climate change, as part of the 350.org international campaign to spur world leaders into resolving the growing climate crisis.
Members of the Campus Climate Challenge and the Department of Environmental Affairs, a Student Association group, distributed literature and encouraged fellow students to become more environmentally conscious and participate in the International Day of Climate Action at University Commons on Saturday, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Displays explained the use of “350,” which is the number, in parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, that scientists say is the upper limit that needs to be achieved in order to avoid run-away climate change. The current rate is 387, and it’s rising quickly.
Members of the Percussion Guild will performed during the two-hour session.
In addition, 350.org displays were set up at the Williams Center on Friday to distribute literature and also encourage students to place cell phone calls to New York’s two U.S. Senators – Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The purpose was to urge them to support proposed legislation in the Senate that protects the climate and creates green jobs in America, said Joseph McGrath, president of Campus Climate Challenge at SUNY Fredonia.
350.org was founded by Bill McKibben, an author and environmentalist who wrote “The End of Nature,” first book published on global warming for a general audience in 1989, and university colleagues. Saturday’s event comes less than two months before members of the United Nations meet in Denmark to negotiate a new global treaty on climate change.
