On Oct. 24th, 2009, as many as 3,000 people are estimated to have attended Climate Day: Fill the Hill on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, the largest of the 240 activities that were organized across Canada in support of 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action.
Joined by 1,000 youth from all 10 provinces and all 3 territories who had traveled to Ottawa for the Power Shift Canada Youth Climate Conference, the largest youth gathering to confront the climate crisis in Canadian history, Climate Day: Fill the Hill became the largest public gathering in Canada to do the same. And the tremendous international mobilization of 5200 activities in 181 countries was the most widespread day of environmental action — EVER!
We have a lot of good material from the afternoon, some of which is posted below. But through no lack of effort, preparation or desire, we deeply regret that our carefully planned and implemented coverage of the spectacular Power Shift Canada 2009 Flash Mob Dance, and Elizabeth May’s brief address just prior (see pics of both above), were not successfully recorded by ecoSanity.org. In fact, we still can’t believe this happened and it’s been heartbreaking for us.
Although others have footage that will eventually surface, we wanted to make — and thought we had shot! — something very special. Lesson: The hand of fate can indeed be cruel and undeserved.
Luckily, one of the incredible Power Shift Canada organizers, Ben Powless, has posted a video of the dance that his father shot (below).
Check out the pic by ecoSanity‘s Soo Luen Tom of the Climate Day: Fill the Hill crowd on the steps of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada at 1:59 above.
Be sure to watch the video above to the end to see the extended version of the ‘ticking crowd clock’ finale.
MORE
- 350.org International Day of Climate Action, Everywhere! (Oct. 24, 2009)
- Climate Day: Fill the Hill, Ottawa (Oct. 24, 2009)
- Power Shift Canada 2009 Youth Climate Conference, Ottawa (Oct. 23-26, 2009)
- Article – Scary new climate study will have you saying ‘Oh, shit!’, Grist, Mark Hertsgaard
- Study – Solving the climate dilemma: The budget approach, WBGU, Joachim Shellnhuber
- Article – Met Office warns of catastrophic global warming in our lifetimes, The Guardian
- Article – Catastrophic climate change could happen decades sooner, Telegraph
- Book – Climate Code Red: The case for a sustainability emergency, D. Spratt, P. Sutton
- Website – Carbon Equity (Australia), David Spratt
- blogeye – Global carbon emissions ‘budget’ to be exceeded by 2021 or sooner!
- blogeye – Climate change human impact report, 4 billion vulnerable NOW
- blogeye – The insanity of exterminating life on Earth, Part 1 & 2
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