Awkward Couch Time

I'm not the kind of person who likes to feel uncomfortable in my own lounge-room. It happens a lot -- I get too involved with what's going on on TV and sometimes the pain/embarrassment is too much to bear. Like when someone does really badly on a talent contest, or when a live interview goes horribly wrong, or when some poor person's life is being ripped apart before my eyes on RPA or one of those fly on the wall series'. I usually respond to such events by covering my eyes and ears whilst leaping off the couch screaming 'turn it off, turn it off, for the love of god, TURN IT OFF!'

While watching Letterman the other night I had to resist all such urges. Climate change author and educator Bill McKibben was on talking about issues facing the planet, and while it scared the crap out of me, I sensed that I should stay put and keep watching. To be honest - a lot of his facts and figures were too huge to contemplate in succession so I checked out his website. That's full of little nuggets like -- everything on the planet that we consider 'frozen' has really melted or is melting. What about -- 'the tropics have expanded two degrees north and south, pushing drought ahead of them.' Or even worse -- 'even the chemistry of seawater is steadily becoming more acidic, as the oceans absorb carbon from the atmosphere.' A little tough to take, hey? You can see why it was so hard to remain seated.

McKibben also touched on the notion that while we might be doing things individually to minimise our 'black balloons' -- unless governments and leaders get involved, our efforts don't mean much. In response, he has created a grass-roots movement 350.org and a global work party for 10/10/10. There are events across the world where communities can get together on this date, learn how to minimise their carbon emissions and make a statement to governments at the same time. Last year, there were 5200 demonstrations in 181 countries and they're trying to make this year's work party even bigger. Worth getting off the couch for!