The Climate Change Call to Action: Youth in Media
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Scientists around the globe agree that climate change has serious environmental impacts on the earth’s temperatures, air and water quality and human health. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased by 31 per cent and methane by 151 per cent. The proliferation of greenhouse gases in the environment continues to rise as the world population insists on burning fossil fuels and consuming energy.
In Canada alone, greenhouse gas emissions increased 15 per cent between 1990 and 2000. And while Canadians emit only 2.5 per cent of global emissions, they are the world’s third largest emitter of green houses gases, behind the United States and Australia.
Global in scale and daunting in scope, climate change is likely to remain a serious concern until countries, cities, communities and individuals start taking action. And action is exactly what a passionate group of hopeful, motivated youth set out to accomplish during the recent Youth in Media climate change awareness project.
Through a Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter and Gumboot Productions partnership, youth from across Canada were united in a dynamic challenge to become ambassadors of environmental and social change. Teens, environmental educators and media professionals came together to conceptualize, write, edit, film and animate a series of broadcast quality Public Service Announcements (PSA’s). The objective was simple and the message succinct – inspire Canadians to reduce their green house gas emissions by one-tonne. The end result is a vibrant collection of videography, colorful animation, hair-raising stunts, and tangible solutions to reduce the human impacts on climate change.
This video story takes you into the minds and experiences of Youth in Media founders, Kathryn Malloy and Peter Campbell as they share their fervor for environmental education and media literacy. Teen producer Janet Willingham shares the challenges and revelations of creating her animation masterpieces “CO2 Balloons” and “Choking the Planet”. And clips from the nationally recognized youth created PSA’s will blow your socks off.
What’s offered through ekosTV.com is only a small selection of what was produced. To learn more about the Youth in Media climate change PSA project or to view all of the PSA’s visit www.youthinmedia.com.
Other Links: Sierra Club BC Chapter www.sierraclub.ca/bc/ Gumboot Productions www.gumboot.net Gulf Island Film School www.giftsfilms.com/
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