NAROOMA youth leader Ben Potter is not content to sit back and watch the oceans acidify and sea levels rise.
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So the Year 10 student has volunteered to host a “Climate Catch Up” on Bar Beach at Narooma next Sunday, November 17 at 12noon.
This will be one of many, many climate action events around Australia that day being organised by the GetUp organisation.
The Narooma News caught up with Ben on Friday just before he was heading up to Sydney to participate in the Unleashed Youth Conference, and he is also a member of the Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Youth Committee.
But next Sunday he will probably be one of youngest GetUp members organising a climate awareness gathering.
“The Narooma flat is so low and risks being flooded and the world’s ocean are becoming more acidic,” Ben said.
“This is something that’s going to affect my generation and generations to come.”
Ben and other Narooma GetUp members are encouraging anyone who is concerned about climate change and the planet to attend and wear bright colours too.
“Come to the park at Bar Beach in Narooma to enjoy a sausage sizzle, meet other GetUp members and general members of the community, talk climate…and enjoy the wonderfully amazing scenery that our town has to offer,” Ben posted on his Facebook event.
“Narooma is a very flat town in most places and therefore will be affected by climate change, and so to discuss certain issues we hope to get local mayor Lindsay Brown to attend as well as other councillors from the Eurobodalla Shire.”
Ben is also organising music performed by the Koori community and high school students. A barbeque will also be provided.
He is also encouraging all to join Bermagui Dune Care in watering and planting at Cuttagee Point south of Bermagui earlier in the day from 9am to 10.30am with a light morning tea provided.
And speaking of ocean acidification and climate change, there is another connection to the Narooma district we can reveal.
A documentary shown very recently on SBS about this scary scenario featured Sam Noonan, a marine biologist working at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Sam, whose mother is a Tilba resident, was apparently instrumental and heavily involved with the documentary and we hope to catch up with him soon.
He is featured in this article in the Seattle Times:
The GetUp organisation meanwhile is calling November 17 a “National Day of Climate Action”.
It is hoping tens of thousands of Australians will show their support for stronger action on climate change by participating in the National Day of Climate Action.
Find out more and RSVP to a local event in your area by clicking on: https://www.getup.org.au/climate and enter your postcode to find your local Climate Catch Up event.
At every Climate Catch Up, GetUp members will be wearing bright, heatwave-coloured clothes and they'll be taking photos on the day to show that they're all part of one, nationwide movement of people asking for stronger action on climate change.
