Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeOn his recent tour of Alaska, Obama warns world leaders of the devastation ahead if climate action is not taken seriously, urging cooperation and honing in on the impacts that Alaska is already living through.
US President Obama has furthered his environmental legacy having recently ended a three day climate tour of Alaska – a state that is already enduring the heavy brunt of a warming world.
In this assertive campaign to communicate the seriousness of climate change, he brought the shifting landscape of Alaska into the spotlight, giving the crisis a homeward feel for the American public. The President presented graphic visuals, hiked up a glacier and filmed a survival sequence with Bear Grylls to widen the spread of attention to the environment.
Like many island communities such as the Torres Strait Islands and the Republic of the Maldives, Alaska is already living the threat of rising sea levels as Arctic Alaskan sea ice is rapidly shrinking and villages are sinking from thawing permafrost. The Beaufort and Chookie Seas have already lost 14% and 16% respectively of their ice mass; and between 1994 and 2013, Alaskan glaciers lost a whopping 75 gigatons of ice. Each year. Feeling the heat yet?
And hosted in Anchorage, Alaska, Obama spoke at the Global Leadership in the Arctic conference. Here, he urged other world leaders to work together in cutting carbon emissions;
I’m determined to make sure that American leadership continues to drive international action. Because we can’t do this alone. Even America and China together can’t do this alone. Even all the countries represented around here cannot do this alone. We have to do it together.- President Barack Obama
What many think was a sneaky shot at Tony Abbott during the Alaskan conference, Obama explained that the time for climate deniers and those who do not consider climate change a modern crisis are "on their own shrinking island."
Any so-called leader who does not take this issue seriously, or treats it like a joke, is not fit to lead.- President Barack Obama
However, just a few weeks prior to the tour, his administration allowed expanded drilling in Alaska's northwest coast and the government is receiving criticism from environmental groups who have been disillusioned with his persistent environmental message. With coal and oil still the main sources of energy in America, it's time the economy and the environment went hand-in-hand.
Read this next: Forget oil, politics and religion: Syria's war has a lot to do with climate change
1 Million Women is more than our name, it's our goal! We're building a movement of strong, inspirational women acting on climate change by leading low-carbon lives. To make sure that our message has an impact, we need more women adding their voice. We need to be louder. Joining us online means your voice and actions can be counted. We need you.
