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Jamie Henn

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The World Begins to 'Connect the Dots'

Posted: 05/04/2012 4:24 pm

Striking images and video are beginning to stream in from more than 1,000 events in more than 100 countries where people are "connecting the dots" between climate change and extreme weather. The events are part of a global effort called "Climate Impacts Day," organized by the international climate campaign 350.org.

The events are powerful evidence of how the string of weather disasters over the last year is increasing public concern about global warming.

Over the next 24 hours, climbers will unveil giant dots on melting glaciers, divers will carry dots underwater to bleached coral reefs, and more high-res photos and videos will stream into the ClimateDots.org website, which is serving as a virtual hub for Climate Impacts Day.

"We just celebrated Earth Day. May 5 is more like Broken Earth Day, a worldwide witness to the destruction global warming is already causing," said Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, the global climate campaign that is coordinating the events. "People everywhere are saying the same thing: our tragedy is not some isolated trauma, it's part of a pattern."

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weebles48
i don't need no stinkin badges.
11:13 AM on 05/06/2012
and just today read a report of a tornado in japan.

a couple of weeks ago a tornado in france.

it's here it's clear to some of us. kentucky where i grew up is now so freaking hot in the summer kids don't play outside for much of it. whole neighborhoods look kind of deserted because everyone stays in the air conditioning unless they have to leave the house.
it was not like that 40 years ago when i was a kid.
just recently march here was the hottest march ever in this area with some days in the high 80s and low 90s.
01:17 AM on 05/08/2012
tornadoes are caused by hot humid air front hitting a cold dry front ,,,they happen every where,

used to live in oklahoma, hell there you can have 120 of them the same day
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Connor Wisnom
05:44 PM on 05/19/2012
40 years in the face of the billions that earth has existed is nothing. temperature fluctuates normally and is the reason why adaptation has reoccurred thousands of times. climates change and temperatures fluctuate. if humans are affecting the way it works by speeding it up, which we probably are then its just bringing something faster than it should. if the ocean levels rise and the planet gets hotter, its for a reason and we cant stop it.
PaulD08
Corrupt GOVT wont promote the General Welfare
08:55 AM on 05/22/2012
so we can do it but we cant stop it? shouldnt we at least try a bit harder,,just in case ? ,,we spend hundreds of billions to stop "terrorism" that may kill thousands ,,this issue may kill millions and cause massive genocide of species
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Seer Clearly
Only truth remains when fear is denied
03:15 AM on 05/30/2012
Ever heard of exponential phenomena? Go look it up. Once they get going, you can't stop them. They don't occur in natural systems that are in balance, by the way.
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11:38 AM on 05/05/2012
Now if science could only connect the dot's , ice age ended , glaciers receding , tree stumps found under receding ice , oh wait - - - tree stumps ? Has this happened before ?
PaulD08
Corrupt GOVT wont promote the General Welfare
08:57 AM on 05/22/2012
yes it has ,,and it was nature,over eons,,this is human over decades,,,ever hear of exponents ?or exponential change,,nature can adapt given time,,,we`re not giving it time...We are intelligent,, we can do better,,if we choose to do so
11:01 PM on 05/04/2012
I find the black dots the most striking of their choices. After seeing the woman with the one on her palm the first thing that leapt to mind was the black spot from Treasure Island. It's as if we're giving the earth it's own black spot through our negligence.

The second thing I thought, was that it's like a darkened earth, as if the planet had been turned off like a light bulb. If we keep up what we're doing, it might turn out that way for a lot of species.
08:43 PM on 05/04/2012
Population growth IS the elephant in the room. Reduce population. China's one child policy makes sense.
11:31 PM on 05/04/2012
This is the new way that the pro pollution lobby is trying to pretend that polluting is OK, and that something else is the problem.

Pollution is bad. Using fossil fuels DOES pollute.
Using renewable energy does NOT pollute. Stop using using fossil fuels and stop polluting. If there are 3 times as many people and and all energy is completely clean, guess what? There's less pollution!

Over population is not the same issue as pollution and climate change. Please stop pretending it is.
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02:00 AM on 05/05/2012
More people more energy usage. Stop breeding like bacteria in a Petrie dish and it will be a lot easier to bring down the pollution levels.
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Trepasky
Sanity is neither free nor easy
10:18 AM on 05/05/2012
TO some who can not understand that the US with only 5% of the people has been responsible for more than 50% of the CO2 emissions.
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Gordon Soderberg
The Green Veteran
08:13 PM on 05/04/2012
Storms will get more intense air temperature rises and it can hold more water. This has been true since humility was discovered. Those that would suggest this in not happening are simply ignorant fools.
05:53 PM on 05/04/2012
Over population is the elephant in the room. Every problem is made harder to solve with the worlds ever growing population. The world added a billion people in the last 12 years and continues to grow.
05:14 PM on 05/04/2012
I'm afraid it's too late! The world is overpopulated and the only thing that will redress the balance are massive natural disasters. Governments have ignored the issue of overpopulation possibly because it's considered taboo to tell people to STOP BREEDING!! My guess is it's the usual story, economy comes first - more people = more consumption and taxes right? People who have more than 2 children should go to jail. Maybe a bit extreme but no one thought about what kind of future generations to come will have living in a world of scarce resources and overcrowding! If mankind is to survive, at least 4 billion people need to go.
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silverwolf13
I know that I do not know.
07:33 PM on 05/04/2012
Those opposed to contraception need to address this question. Is it more moral to control human population through contraception or through war, famine, ane pestilence?
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02:04 AM on 05/05/2012
We made that choice 50 years ago. When the Pill came out we already saw the handwriting on the wall. If we, as a nation, and our allies around the world, had made reducing family sizes our number one priority then we would be living in a very different world. We didn't. Religious groups wanted to outbreed their rivals. So did ethnic groups and small countries. People claimed that population control was immoral or unethical. Now millions are starving or dying from polluted water and land.

It is too late now to prevent the catastrophe. All that is left is to save your family and your home as best you can, and to work towards mitigating the effects of the coming calamity.
10:47 AM on 05/05/2012
Excellent point. I'd fan you again, if I could.
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Scott Allie
Starving Philosopher
07:41 PM on 05/04/2012
We do have a good reason to use our nukes after all. LOL
That was cold but true. How can we continue on this path of self destruction.
The end is near. Brought to you by your local church.
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02:05 AM on 05/05/2012
And mosque and temple and synagogue.
04:55 PM on 05/04/2012
there is only one dot.

There are no trends. Hurricanes are at a low point.

Droughts and floods are at about normal .

Where are the dots ?
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gallon
Those who fail to remember history are, um
11:12 PM on 05/04/2012
False.

The warming trend continues relentlessly.
The CO2 curve continues to climb exponentially.

Droughts and floods are normal? Ludicrous.

You are peddling junk, netdr.
10:48 AM on 05/05/2012
Back to his old tricks, I see.
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Lifeisdone
"Chickens are decent people"
08:08 PM on 05/05/2012
Droughts and floods are normal. Africa gets them ever 30 years or something like that,but of course this year was the worse in history...