Extinction Rebellion hang banner over M54 in warning of 'devastating' extreme weather
Climate protestors took to a bridge over the M54 in Telford to make a stark warning to rush hour drivers about climate change.
Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Telford hung banners over the barriers of a footbridge over the M54 reading: 'Stop Fossil Fuels' and 'Enough is Enough - climate action now' in the early hours of Friday.
They tweeted the pictures from an XR Telford account, saying: "Rebels from Extinction Rebellion Telford out again today. Getting the message out above the M54 in Telford."
The protest comes a week after they unfurled a large banner off the side of the Southwater multi-storey car park bearing the words 'climate crisis – act now'.
XR member and coordinator of the Telford & Wrekin Green Party Pat McCarthy explained the banners were to draw attention to the implications of recent extreme weather events including a record-breaking heatwave and annual flooding.
"It's to make people more aware... that climate change is causing the extreme weather they are experiencing.
"The effects of climate change are being noted and understood more clearly in the UK - crops are being devastated, people are being made homeless by the effects of flooding and heatwaves.
"It's just raising the consciousness and making the connection that what people are experiencing in terms of flooding and heatwaves and now drought is a consequence of the Government's inaction.
"It's going to get worse. We can see the graph - these things that are happening are not aberrations, they are part of a pattern, a clear trend.
"These banner drops are hopefully part of making people aware of the situation. We will be carrying on doing these while we feel that this issue of climate change is not being taken seriously."
He said that the impact of climate change elsewhere in the world will have "direct and indirect" consequences on the UK including food shortages and an increase in immigration.
"We live in a global economy. We can't shut our eyes anymore to the plight of other countries."
Not all the reaction to today's protest was positive, with Jackjones567 replying to the tweet: "How did the sign get there?
"How did the materials the signs are made from get to you?
"Why don't you get a job in the renewable energy sector and actually contribute to making a difference, instead of moaning at everyone else?"
