Dear Photographers -

Every day millions of photographs are made of the beauties of this planet, human and natural. We are captivated by the emotions and stories these photographs convey. From Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter to the anonymous amateurs, iconic images have crystallized public opinion around critical issues and eras in history.

Now, for one day, we need to harness all that skill—your skill—to help captivate the world with one of the most important days of witness the planet has seen. On October 24, at thousands of locations around the world, people will gather to take action on global warming. We’re calling it the 350 day of global climate action—and that will take a little explaining.

350, it turns out, is the most important number in the world, even though we didn’t know it even 18 months ago. After the Arctic began to furiously melt in the summer of 2007, our best scientists went back to their computer models and figured out that 350 parts per million carbon dioxide was the most we could have in the atmosphere, at least if we wanted a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”

We’re already past that number—the air outside holds 390 parts per million co2, which is why the Arctic is melting, why the ocean is acidifying, why deserts are spreading. And which is why we need far swifter and deeper action to fight global warming than we used to imagine. When the nations of the world meet in Copenhagen in December to hammer out a new climate treaty, we need them to strike a deal serious enough that we’ll be able to start scrambling back below that red line.

So people of all kinds are gathering in virtually every country on earth on October 24 to try and make this the most important number on earth the most well-known. Some are traditional environmentalists, but many aren’t. For instance, many of the best known mountain climbers on earth (including David Breashears) have sent out a letter asking their brethren to get up high with banners on that day. The planet’s most renowned oceanographer, Sylvia Earle, has made a similar request—there will be lots and lots of underwater demonstrations! Famous athletes are organizing events, and thousands of churches will peal their bells 350 times; in major cities across the world we’ll have thousands of people spelling out those three digits with their bodies.

We need you, photographers, to help us document the day. We’ll have a huge screen in New York at the UN, as well as at the Los Angeles Music Center, where we’ll be flashing pictures all day as they upload from around the planet. We also encourage photojournalists to provide coverage to their media contacts. We’ll be delivering prints in the days that follow to heads of state and negotiators from around the planet. That's why we need them to be great images, images that capture the passion and the glory of the day, that tell the story in the way that will reach people. So we need to borrow your skill, whether you’re a professional or an amateur.

Photographers are already taking the lead as a part of 350 Photographers for the Planet initiative which can be found at www.350.org/photographers. The project aims to bring together 350 photos of climate change - the impacts and the response - and will be displayed online and at a big event at the LA Music Center on October 24th.

Please join us—visit www.350.org/photograph-o24 to sign up and commit to covering an action so we can connect you with people in your area. And please help us too by spreading this request around the world of photography, especially to places that will be harder for us to reach.We know that we’ll be having actions in Samoa, in Borneo, on Easter Island, in the Alps and we just heard from the first 350 organizer in Rwanda last week. We know that this day will make a difference, but only if we can bring the pictures home. Go sign up today to help.

Many, many thanks,

Bill McKibben, 350.org
Chris Noble, www.noblefoto.com
Robert van Waarden, www.vanwaardenphoto.com

Please take a second to fill out the form below if you are interestd in photographing one of the events.  We are in the process of confirming many of the most iconic and breathtaking events for October 24th - as soon as we have a good list, we will send you 'your assignment'.  To connect directly with an action being planned near you, please visit www.350.org/action-list.