A large bike rally and a panel of speakers will draw attention to the issue Sunday in downtown Minneapolis. The effort is part of an international day to raise public awareness and stimulate political action on climate change,which stalled in Congress this year.

WHAT'S HAPPENING
10 a.m.: Bikers will gather at Como Park in St. Paul and ride as a group to Mill Ruins Park near the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, where ...
2 p.m.: A panel of environmental leaders, legislators, scientists and explorer Will Steger will speak on the need to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming, and ...
Also appearing: two Minnesotans biking across the country to produce a documentary about how Americans are responding with local solutions to climate change.

THE STORY OF 10/10/10
The idea to make 10/10/10 an international day of political action came from Bill McKibben, author and founder of an organization called 350.org.
That name comes from the number -- 350 parts per million -- that many scientists consider the safe amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The current amount is about 390 parts per million. Climate change activists want to slow down and reverse CO2 concentrations.

EVENTS WORLDWIDE
More than 6,600 are scheduled in 188 countries. Many focus on climate solutions at the local level, such as tree plantings, trash cleanup, ride sharing and clean-energy projects. Environmentalists are also pushing for progress at the upcoming United Nations conference on climate change; it starts Nov. 29 in Cancun, Mexico.

TOM MEERSMAN

See the online article from the Star Tribune website - Oct. 07, 2010