Buried within the newly released IPCC report is an apocalyptic warning: if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at current rates, global warming by the end of the century could total 6.4C. The scientists don’t say so explicitly, but a rise in temperatures of this magnitude would catapult the planet into an extreme greenhouse state not seen for nearly 100 million years, when dinosaurs grazed on polar rainforests and deserts reached into the heart of Europe. It would cause a mass extinction of almost all life and probably reduce humanity to a few struggling groups of embattled survivors clinging to life near the poles.

An eco-alarmist fantasy? Activists and author Mark Lynas thinks not - having spent the past three years combing the scientific literature for clues to how life will change as the planet heats up, he warns that life on a 6C-warmer globe would be almost unimaginably hellish. For a clue to just how unpleasant things can get, he points to the Permian period 251 millions years ago when temperatures rose by 6C over just a few thousand years, dramatically changing the climate and wiping out up to 95 per cent of species alive at the time.

Mark Lynas new book 'six degrees' examines how the collapse of human civilisation will unfold with each degree rise in temperature - unless urgent action is taken. While spelling out the depths of the horror we face, Lynas also points out that with foresight and intelligent strategic planning we can at least halt the catastrophic trend into which we have fallen. But the time to act is now.

So act now and join LIGHTS OUT this week on Thursday 15 March 2007 to coincide with the launch of Mark Lynas' new book and commit to losing some energy weight.

 http://blackoutbritain.org.uk/html/why.html

You can cut down on those carbon emissions by switching it all off and plunging into darkness... or come along to the rampART for some company as we dive into a two night cinematic frenzy of climate madness...

THURSDAY 15TH...

THE DENIAL MACHINE (2006, 40 mins)
( http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/denialmachine/index.html)

In the past few years, a hurricane has engulfed the debate about global warming. This scientific issue has become a rhetorical firestorm with science pitted against spin and inflammatory words on both sides. How could scientific fact, which many believe could determine the very future of the planet, become a political battleground, pitting left versus right, environmentalist versus climate change sceptic?

The Denial Machine investigates the roots of the campaign to negate the science and the threat of global warming. It tracks the activities of a group of scientists, some of whom previously consulted for for Big Tobacco, and who are now receiving donations from major coal and oil companies.

The documentary shows how fossil fuel corporations have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences. It shows that companies such as Exxon Mobil are working with top public relations firms and using many of the same tactics and personnel as those employed by Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds to dispute the cigarette-cancer link in the 1990s. The film also explores how the arguments supported by oil companies were adopted by policy makers in both Canada and the U.S. and helped form government policy.


THE PLANET (84 min)

Twenty nine experts from around the world give their opinion about the state of Planet Earth in visually stunning images and commentary. Their views on the consequences of the climatic, geographical and anthropological changes emerging now, demonstrate that a unique scenario is beginning to unfold, and witnessed globally. The film explores the latest facts and examples and leads us to the ultimate issue of how we will cope with the future.

The film will officially premiere on the 21st March with simultaneous cinema screenings around the world but why wait when you can catch a sneaky exclusive premiere of this epic documentary in a dirty east london squat.


FRIDAY 16TH

GLOBAL DIMMING (Horizon)

Scientists looking at five decades of sunlight measurements have reached the disturbing conclusion that the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface has been gradually falling. Paradoxically, the decline in sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to society than previously thought. The dimming appears to be caused by air pollution. Burning coal, oil and wood, whether in cars, power stations or cooking fires, produces not only invisible carbon dioxide (the principal greenhouse gas responsible for global warming) but also tiny airborne particles of soot, ash, sulphur compounds and other pollutants. This global dimming appears to have led scientists to underestimate the true power of the greenhouse effect and to conclude that the present-day climate is less sensitive to the effects of carbon dioxide than it was, say, during the ice age, when a similar rise in CO2 led to a temperature rise of 6°C. But it now appears the warming from greenhouse gases has been offset by a strong cooling effect from dimming - in effect two of our pollutants have been cancelling each other out.


RECLAIM POWER (2007, 62min cine rebelde)
-voices from the camp for climate action 2006

In the summer of 2006, the 5th hottest year ever recorded in recent history, 600 people convinced that there is no time to waste set up a Camp for Climate Action in the shadow of . This video tells the story of the campers, the workshops, the collective learning, sustainable living and the attempt to shut down Drax power station, one of the biggest C02 emitters in Europe.

See  http://www.cinerebelde.org/site.php3?id_rubrique=166〈=en

Note: The preparations for the Camp for Climate Action 2007 are in full swing. Next prepararion meeting is in Bristol from March 17th-18th. see  http://climatecamp.org.uk/meeting.php


PLUS OTHER SHORT FILMS INC..

IGNITING THE REVOLUTION
- an introduction to the Earth Liberation Front


FILMS START 8PM SHARP

popcorn, drinks, music after.

ENTRY FREE, donations welcome.