This past weekend, communities around the world gathered to support reducing the carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts-per-million (ppm). Oct. 24 was a “Global Day of Action”, organized by Bill McKibben and his organization “350.org”. With over 5,200 grass-roots events in 181 countries, including one here at the College, it was the largest international day of action ever. The mission of these actions was “to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis — to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.”

Our planet is currently in peril. Atmospheric levels of carbon have reached 390 parts-per-million, causing a planet-altering cycle of warming. Currently, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been at any other time in the last 650,000 years. The head climatologist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), James Hansen, and a panel of scientists published a paper in 2008 stating that the maximum level of carbon in the atmosphere that will sustain our way of life is 350 ppm. According to the paper, “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that carbon dioxide will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm.” If we do not heed this advice, then we will see a large reduction in the amount arable land in the world, a huge loss of precious developed waterfront due to rising sea levels and worsening storm patterns, among other problems. The costs could be astronomical.

It is a crucial time for the climate action movement. The United Nations Climate Change Conference commences on Dec. 7 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The purpose of this meeting is to negotiate an international treaty that will prevent widespread global destruction from climate change. The framework for the treaty is comprised of “four building blocks: increased mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, technology transfers and development, and financing.” The Copenhagen negotiations are a tremendous opportunity for the world to begin the process of reducing carbon emissions.

There is also a climate bill currently moving through the Senate. Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry proposed the bill, which seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020. The bill will do this by changing the economics of emitting carbon. It is important that the United States go into the Copenhagen negotiations with some sort of substantive climate legislation. John Kerry will also be one of two negotiators representing the United States at Copenhagen.

Most of the proposed legislation is not bold enough to strive for 350 ppm. In order to preserve our climate, the countries of the world need goals that are far more ambitious. We need to stop emitting carbon entirely within the next two decades. The costs of changing our methods of energy production and usage are much smaller than the costs of doing nothing. This goal will take swift and unilateral action around the world. World leaders need to see that the people of the world have rallied around reducing the carbon in the atmosphere to 350 ppm.

With this vision in mind, people gathered around the world this past weekend. Countries as dissimilar as Brazil, Ethiopia and China all played host to climate actions. In the Maldives, where rising water levels will force all residents from their homes in the coming decades, the president hosted a cabinet meeting completely underwater. There were actions on every continent and in nearly every country of the world. Yet all the participants stood together in complete consensus. Never before have so many people from around the world come together with a common goal.

Oct. 24 has come and gone. Yet the movement will not fade away. In Massachusetts, students are calling for 100 percent clean energy in the next 10 years. Over 100 students camped out on Sunday night on the Boston Common to kick off The Leadership Campaign. Throughout the state, students will protest dependence on dirty electricity and refuse to sleep in their dorms and houses until the message of 350 is heard in the statehouse and in Copenhagen. The College will hold sleepouts on campus throughout the next seven weeks.

Now is the time to get involved in the climate crisis. You will be joining an international movement of unprecedented size and importance. Stand in solidarity with people from every corner of the globe. Spend a night outside without the comforts provided to us by dirty electricity. Together, we can push to make this state a leader in the transition to a more sustainable state. Future generations will thank you.