Friends  -

We just sent the important email below to everyone on the East Coast — but before you get to it, I wanted to let you know that we’re planning an event to connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather tomorrow, Sunday the 28th, at 4 PM in Times Square, before the subways close and the hurricane arrives in New York.

We have a huge parachute banner that calls out the climate silence in this election that we will hold up in the busiest media hub in the city.

We want to send a clear message to the media and our political leaders that we expect them to connect the dots between extreme weather and climate change.

We’ll snap some photos from above and share them with the press and politicians as they respond to this storm.

It’s a good looking banner, but we’ll look even stronger with more people who are there to hold it.

Can you be there? Click here to RSVP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/427822367285139/

Here are the details on when and where to meet us:

What: New York City Hurricane Sandy Connect the Dots Event
Where: Times Square – meet at the foot of the red TKTS staircase.
When: Sunday, October 28th, 4 PM

If you can make it and still have the time you need to prepare for the storm, I will see you there.

Duncan

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Friends-

Hurricane Sandy, a storm that meteorologists say is unlike any they’ve ever seen before, is headed for the East Coast in the next few days.

We wanted to write you, first to make sure you are safe and have all the best possible information about the storm, and to talk about the very real reasons this is happening now.

First, safety: We don’t yet know just where it will hit the coast, and it might not be a hurricane when it does, but this is a powerful storm that will push already high-tides even higher. There will be lots of rain, and gale-force winds as well. It has already caused 48 deaths in the Caribbean.

The folks at Weather Underground have a straightforward prediction for where the storm is likely to land, and the conditions to expect. Their maps are here: www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at201218_5day.html

Please also pay close attention to trusted local forecasts — and remember, rumors can create panic that quickly makes a situation much less safe.

Also, for anyone who ends up near the storm center, please be prepared with a 48-72 hour plan. NOAA also has a good hurricane preparedness page that you can use to make plans: www.nhc.noaa.gov/prepare/ready.php

This is a storm unlike any we’ve seen before because the earth is doing things it has never done before. The water along the Atlantic coast is 5 degrees hotter than usual, super-charging Sandy’s rainfall, and drawing the strength of the storm further north. Already too-high tides will be pushed dangerously higher by this storm.

Despite these rapid changes, our politicians have dropped climate from their agenda. So, in addition to preparing to stay safe, let’s prepare to connect the dots between this storm and the fossil fuels and put climate change back front and center. Just like we did this May, we’d like you to prepare your own ‘climate dot’, and if Sandy does have an impact on your community, to share your your story with us, and the world.

We’re not talking about a big demonstration — the focus should be on cleaning up and helping out our neighbors after a storm like this — but rather a simple, straightforward photo that shows the impact that climate change is having on our lives. We’ll do everything we can to share your photos with our social networks, the movement, and the press. Here’s where you can go to submit your photo: connect.climatedots.org/submit

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Here’s one dot from May, about the last major storm that hit the Northeast, Hurricane Irene, that shows what we’re talking about:

These are scary times. As Bill put it in this article, this storm is “stitched together from some spooky combination of the natural and the unnatural.” But if being a part of a movement means anything, it means that no one will be left alone. We’ll take care of each other, through this and all the big fights to come.

Stay dry,

Duncan

P.S. – as with any disaster, the people who will feel this storm hardest are the folks who are already vulnerable because poverty or other factors. If you are able to contribute to help soften the blow, here’s a link to the Red Cross’ disaster relief fund: www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod10002

Sources:

“Sandy remains a hurricane, slowly leaving the Bahamas,” Jeff Masters’ Wunderblog, October 26, 2012. www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2276

“Hurricane Sandy may be unprecedented in East Coast storm history” Washington Post Capitol Weather Gang, October 26, 2012. www.washingtonpost.com

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• • Sunday, October 28, 2012
  • 4:00pm in EDT

• Times Square

• We’re planning an event to connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather this Sunday the 28th, at 4 PM in Times Square, before the subways close and the hurricane arrives in New York. We have a huge parachute banner that calls out the climate silence in this election that we will hold up in the busiest media hub in the city. We want to send a clear message to the media and our political leaders that we expect them to connect the dots between extreme weather and climate change. We’ll snap some… photos from above and share them with the press and politicians as they respond to this storm. It’s a good looking banner, but we’ll look even stronger with more people who are there to hold it. Where: Times Square – meet at the foot of the red TKTS staircase. When: Sunday, October 28th, 4 PM