Did you know Saturday is the International Day of Climate Action?

The day, celebrated around the world, highlights the number 350. Why? Because scientists say 350 parts per million is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere. (Currently, we're around 390 parts per million.)

In time for Saturday, the Center for Biological Diversity has released "350 Reasons we need to get to 350: 350 Species Threatened by Global Warming," a list of 350 plant and animal species threatened by climate change. Northwest species include well-known species in trouble, such as pikas, gray whales, marbled murrelets, snowy plovers, sea otters and spotted owls. Lesser-known species include some from our backyard, including large-flowered wooly meadowfoam and Cook's lomatium (plants found in Jackson County's Agate Desert, actually a prairie), Applegate's milk vetch (a plant found in the Klamath Basin), vernal pool fairy shrimp (also found in the Agate Desert) and the Siskiyou and Scott Bar salamanders (found in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains).

If you want to take action, you can find events going on around the world, or just show up to the Ashland plaza at 3:50 p.m. Saturday for a rally "calling on our leaders for a strong climate change treaty being negotiated this December in Copenhagen."

Meanwhile, if all's going well, Ashlander Eberley Wedlake will be displaying her 350-foot banner (there's that number again) calling for action on climate change at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Check out the Tidings story on Eberley's adventures here and browse her website for more information.

If you're looking for another way to help out, don't forget the Jackson County Plastic Roundup happening Friday and Saturday at the Ashland Armory and the Jackson County Expo in Central Point. For a $5 fee, you can drop off a vehicle full of those kinds of plastic you can't just toss in the commingle bin. We're talking plastic like grocery and cereal bags, nursery pots, straws, lawn furniture, synthetic wine corks, CDs, VHS tapes and baling twine, to name a few. For a complete list of what you can and can't recycle, and more information about the event, visit the Jackson County Recycling Partnership Web site.