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Noah's Ark rebuilt to show climate change threat
Wed May 23, 2007 7:07AM EDT
By Daren Butler
MOUNT ARARAT, Turkey (Reuters) - Noah's Ark, built to save humanity
and the animal kingdom in the face of a great flood, is being
reconstructed in model form on Mount Ararat as a warning to mankind to
act now to prevent global warming.
Environmental activists are behind the initiative in the lush green
foothills of the snow-capped mountain in eastern Turkey, where the
Bible says the vessel came to rest after a flood had wiped out corrupt
humanity.
Volunteers are racing to complete the wooden vessel under bright
sunshine by end-May, to coincide with a summit of leading countries
next month in Germany where climate change will be high on the agenda.
"This is directed mainly at the politicians of this earth, to world
leaders who are primarily responsible for the climate catastrophe
which is taking place and for the solution," said Wolfgang Sadik,
campaign leader for Greenpeace, which is behind the project.
"The aim is to put on Mount Ararat a memorial, a warning sign that
also gives hope, to shake up the world and to say that if we don't
react now it is too late," he said, as carpenters hammered away at the
Ark's bow at an altitude of 2,400 meters.
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned
carbon dioxide emissions should at least be halved by 2050 to avoid
climate changes which the European Union says would be dangerous.
Rising seas are a central concern of climate change. The U.N. climate
panel says seas are set to rise 18-59 cms this century, up from 17 cms
in the 20th century.
But there are deep divisions on ways to tackle the threat.
Germany wants G8 countries at next month's meeting to agree to the
IPCC target and promote carbon trading as a way to penalize greenhouse
gas emissions.
But U.S. chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson said last week the
United States will continue to reject emissions targets or
cap-and-trade schemes, and will fight climate change by funding clean
energy technologies.
PUNISHMENT
In the Biblical Noah's Ark story-well-known to Jews, Christians and
Muslims-God decides to punish humanity's sins by destroying life on
Earth with a flood.
He chooses righteous Noah to preserve life by saving his family and
pairs of all the world's animals-which board the boat two by two.
Such a menagerie would strain the model Ark, which at just 10 meters
long and four meters high would barely house Noah's family. The Bible
says the original ark was 300 cubits long-longer than a soccer pitch.
The model will even be a tight fit for climbers if, as planned, it
ultimately becomes a mountain hut.
Timber for the boat was hauled by horse up the mountain last week and
the volunteers face logistical problems working at high altitude in a
remote place.
They are also working against the clock for a May 31 ceremony, when
doves will be released from the boat and an appeal made to world
leaders to counter global warming: Noah sent a dove out from the Ark
to see if the flood had subsided.
"A boatbuilding master said they would not have the courage to do this
given the short period of time," said German carpenter Rainer
Brumshagen. "But I had the feeling that it could work."
"It all feels very good with the energy people are bringing here,
uniting those from different countries to work together."
The political wrangling feels a world away from the idyllic slopes of
Mount Ararat, where shepherds graze their sheep and swallows circle
the brightly colored tents of the two dozen activists involved in the
Greenpeace project.
"But", one of Brumshagen's carpenter colleagues said of the model Ark,
"I am not so sure that it will float."
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved
Noah's Ark rebuilt to show climate change threat
Wed May 23, 2007 7:07AM EDT
By Daren Butler
MOUNT ARARAT, Turkey (Reuters) - Noah's Ark, built to save humanity
and the animal kingdom in the face of a great flood, is being
reconstructed in model form on Mount Ararat as a warning to mankind to
act now to prevent global warming.
Environmental activists are behind the initiative in the lush green
foothills of the snow-capped mountain in eastern Turkey, where the
Bible says the vessel came to rest after a flood had wiped out corrupt
humanity.
Volunteers are racing to complete the wooden vessel under bright
sunshine by end-May, to coincide with a summit of leading countries
next month in Germany where climate change will be high on the agenda.
"This is directed mainly at the politicians of this earth, to world
leaders who are primarily responsible for the climate catastrophe
which is taking place and for the solution," said Wolfgang Sadik,
campaign leader for Greenpeace, which is behind the project.
"The aim is to put on Mount Ararat a memorial, a warning sign that
also gives hope, to shake up the world and to say that if we don't
react now it is too late," he said, as carpenters hammered away at the
Ark's bow at an altitude of 2,400 meters.
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned
carbon dioxide emissions should at least be halved by 2050 to avoid
climate changes which the European Union says would be dangerous.
Rising seas are a central concern of climate change. The U.N. climate
panel says seas are set to rise 18-59 cms this century, up from 17 cms
in the 20th century.
But there are deep divisions on ways to tackle the threat.
Germany wants G8 countries at next month's meeting to agree to the
IPCC target and promote carbon trading as a way to penalize greenhouse
gas emissions.
But U.S. chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson said last week the
United States will continue to reject emissions targets or
cap-and-trade schemes, and will fight climate change by funding clean
energy technologies.
PUNISHMENT
In the Biblical Noah's Ark story-well-known to Jews, Christians and
Muslims-God decides to punish humanity's sins by destroying life on
Earth with a flood.
He chooses righteous Noah to preserve life by saving his family and
pairs of all the world's animals-which board the boat two by two.
Such a menagerie would strain the model Ark, which at just 10 meters
long and four meters high would barely house Noah's family. The Bible
says the original ark was 300 cubits long-longer than a soccer pitch.
The model will even be a tight fit for climbers if, as planned, it
ultimately becomes a mountain hut.
Timber for the boat was hauled by horse up the mountain last week and
the volunteers face logistical problems working at high altitude in a
remote place.
They are also working against the clock for a May 31 ceremony, when
doves will be released from the boat and an appeal made to world
leaders to counter global warming: Noah sent a dove out from the Ark
to see if the flood had subsided.
"A boatbuilding master said they would not have the courage to do this
given the short period of time," said German carpenter Rainer
Brumshagen. "But I had the feeling that it could work."
"It all feels very good with the energy people are bringing here,
uniting those from different countries to work together."
The political wrangling feels a world away from the idyllic slopes of
Mount Ararat, where shepherds graze their sheep and swallows circle
the brightly colored tents of the two dozen activists involved in the
Greenpeace project.
"But", one of Brumshagen's carpenter colleagues said of the model Ark,
"I am not so sure that it will float."
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved