Adlai Frederickson: We must act now for the survival of the planet

I and several others were out at Five Points on April 1 holding signs about, in my opinion, the No. 1 issue of our time – climate change. Of the people driving or walking by, the majority didn’t even look. Several folks gave us enthusiastic affirmation and the odd few gave a thumbs down saying it isn’t real.

We face an unprecedented drought which is a direct result of global warming exacerbated by overuse of fossil fuels. The past year was the warmest on record, snow pack is virtually non-existent in the Sierra and NASA predicts the drought will last for 40 to 50 years. With our reservoirs at historically low levels, aquifers effectively depleted and no relief in sight, we face catastrophic collapse of our agricultural-based economy and a disastrous reduction in food supply for the world. I ask all of you to please take this seriously for the sake of our children and grandchildren. We have such a rare and beautiful planet giving us life. Let’s put our energy and money toward life instead of war and death. We must act now if we are to survive.

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Adlai Frederickson: We must act now for the survival of the planet."