Last week, scientists worldwide held protests to pressure government agencies to address rapid climate change. The scientists say leaders must make drastic cuts to significantly reduce emissions before it’s too late. Climate protests came following a United Nations report saying the world has just three years to act. According to the report, failure to make “rapid and deep” emissions reductions will cause severe climate disasters.
The U.N. report explains that if the world doesn’t act by 2025, then the world will warm by a median of 3.2 degrees Celsius by 2100. Across the world’s major cities, scientists are protesting to demand government action.
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In London, 25 scientists glued their hands and pages of the U.N. report to windows at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The scientists say the agency must address the report instead of ignoring it like much of the British government.
In Los Angeles, police arrested four scientists (including NASA scientist Peter Kalmus) on Wednesday for participating in the protests. The arrests occurred at the front door of a Chase bank, where scientists protested the company’s fossil fuel investments.
In Madrid, over 50 protesters were arrested for throwing fake blood on the steps of the Spanish Parliament’s Congress of Deputies. These cases represent just a few of the over 1,000 scientists who took part in the protests globally.
While speaking to the Business Insider, Kalmus said the U.N. report confirms what scientists have warned people about for years. He says that the scientific community demands action to stop emissions and climate change.
“We’ve been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that we’re heading towards a fucking catastrophe, and we’ve been being ignored,” said Kalmus. “The scientists of the world are being ignored, and it’s got to stop. We’re not joking. We’re not lying. We’re not exaggerating.”
The protests were part of a week of civil disobedience organized by Scientist Rebellion, a branch of the climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion.
Via The Hill
Lead image via Pexels
