Melting blocks of ice a cold wake-up call to climate change
Blocks of ice have been left to melt in The Square in Palmerston North to signify the melting of the polar ice caps.
A group of Manawatu¯ people held a peaceful protest about climate change in The Square yesterday, waving placards, handing out pamphlets, writing messages in chalk on the pavement and leaving blocks of ice to melt.
It was part of a movement by a worldwide group, Extinction Rebellion, which wants governments around the world to reverse environment-damaging policies and reduce carbon emissions.
Kirsty Porter helped organise the Manawatu¯ protest. She said they wanted to have a ‘‘soft action’’, similar to Extinction Rebellion’s nonviolent demonstrations.
‘‘We’ll put it in people’s minds and we’ve got blocks of ice and we’re involving children,’’ she said. ‘‘The ice is to illustrate the urgency of the matter.
‘‘It’s melting in the sun there.’’ Members of the group froze blocks of ice in buckets and brought them to The Square and dumped them on the ground. The group accepted climate change was an unprecedented global emergency.
‘‘A lot of people don’t realise Manawatu¯ is going to be affected by rising sea levels,’’ Porter said.
Extinction Rebellion holds nonviolent protests, but also carries out acts of civil disobedience, including group members holding up traffic in London for seven minutes. At one protest in London someone brought ice from the Arctic to melt, which was the inspiration for the Palmerston North event, Porter said.
The group’s three main objectives are: the truth be reported about climate change, net zero carbon emissions by 2025, and the formation of a citizen assembly to oversee changes.