Count the Syracuse area among hundreds of sites worldwide that will call for–with one symbolic voice all on the same day–the planet to move beyond fossil fuels.
That upcoming day is Saturday, Sept 24. The “392 and Rising—Getting to 350 Rally” will be held from 10–11 a.m. on the Quad at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) to call attention to the dangers posed by the ever-increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere and the impacts of climate change.
Community participation in the 350 Rally is welcome. Though not required, anyone planning to attend may sign up online at http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/syracuse-new-york-onondaga-co/1831.
The event will take place during the annual SUNY-ESF Alumni & Family Fall BBQ Weekend. Because the barbecue is an advance sale ticket event, and due to the SU football game at the Dome that day, there is no parking on campus.
Syracuse’s 350 Rally is being held in association with moving-planet.org, which is organizing an international series of events on Sept. 24 to bring attention to the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
In 1959, the first year that data on atmospheric CO2 was collected, the CO2 concentration was 316 parts per million (ppm). Today it is 392 ppm. Atmospheric CO2 has accelerated upward from decade to decade. For the past 10 years, the average annual rate of increase is 2.04 ppm. This rate of increase is more than double the increase in the 1960s, when the rate was 0.88 ppm. According to CO2Now.org, 350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts and progressive governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.
350 Rally schedule
GreeningUSA and CNY Energy Smart are organizational partners for the 350 Rally. The SUNY-ESF Environmental Studies Student Organization is co-sponsoring the event as part of the ESF Alumni & Family Fall BBQ activities scheduled that day.
