A COMMUNITY talk in Bangor will give people the chance to express their feelings about the climate and nature emergency and what we can do about it.

Dr Aaron Thierry, an environmental scientist and climate activist who grew up in Gwynedd, will lead the discussion at Penrhyn Hall, Bangor, at 5.30pm on Saturday January 28.

The event, called “Act Together: How we Tackle the Climate Crisis”, is free and open to everyone, including a talk on the climate emergency, followed by time for discussion in small groups and free vegan food.

“Act Together” is also a chance to find out about a campaign to unite climate, nature, and community groups, and bring 100,000 people together outside Parliament in London from April 21.

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The campaign, called “The Big One”, is calling on the government to stop funding fossil fuels or granting new licenses, but instead hold citizens assemblies, where ordinary people can meet to discuss a fair transition to green energy.

Dr Thierry, now a postgraduate researcher at Cardiff University, has studied melting permafrost and climate feedback loops in the Arctic.

He warned parts of the Arctic and Antarctic are close to tipping points where melting of ice sheets becomes irreversible, leading to dangerous sea level rises of many metres.

 “There’s towns like Fairbourne where the council have said they’re not going to repair flood defences around the coast anymore,” he said.

“It’s just too expensive for them to keep up with the rate of sea level change. The water will move inland and everybody will have to move.”

It was his childhood exploring the glacial valleys of Snowdonia which led to Dr Thierry studying ecology at The University of Sheffield.

There, he learned global temperatures were just 4°C lower in the last Ice Age, while climate models predict a 4°C rise by the end of this century.

“The horror of it really started to hit home,” he said.

“It was my sense of loss at landscapes being lost and changed as a result of climate change.”

But the scientist insists it is not a gloomy picture and people can change things if we take action to stop greenhouse gas emissions now.

“The IPCC reports are really clear,” he said.

“We have all of the answers, but we’re not using them because there’s not the political will to do them.”

Two Bangor residents, Lizzy Scott, a gardener and former GP, and Alison Shaw, a retired science teacher, will give brief testimonials at the event.

The event is being organised by Scientists for Extinction Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion Bangor.

People can also find how to take part in “The Big One”, and roles they can play from street surveys to social media, lobbying, admin, playing music, or even creating art.

Dr Thierry urged people to come and join the discussion, adding: “Emergency times call for emergency measures, so what do these emergency measures look like?

“I think it’s really important that we engage with that conversation.”