Surrey activists with environmental group Extinction Rebellion headed to London in their droves for the group's latest International Rebellion protests.
On Monday (October 7) 12 sites in London and scores of others in cities around the world were occupied by activists and supporters of Extinction Rebellion (XR).
The group are demanding emergency action from governments and corporations to reduce and ultimately stop carbon emissions that are warming the planet's atmosphere and could "lock-in" irreversible climate change that would threaten life on Earth.
XR were founded in the UK and have chapters across the country, including a number in Surrey.
Activists from Kingston and Dorking were among those heading from the country into central London for the protests.
One of them was Carol Millett from XR Dorking, who spokes with the Comet via telephone as she helped XR activists from across the South East occupy Parliament Square.
"We're sat outside Downing Street and the police are here in quite significant numbers, and arresting people at a steady rate," she told the Comet around 5pm on Monday.
"There are hundreds of us. We've taken over Parliament Square. There are cricket matches and tea parties, it's quite a festival atmosphere in a way but obviously with a serious undertone," she added.
That undertone is the increasingly severe climate crisis as described by scientists, who have indicated the serious social and ecological crises that are likely to occur if carbon keeps getting emitted at current levels into the atmosphere.
Food shortages, mass heatstroke and more extreme weather events have all been anticipated by climate science.
Indeed, Ms Millet was eager to stress the severity of the crisis as the reason she got involved in XR in the first place.
"It has to be taken seriously now because we have very little time left. This is about our children. I'm here because of their future," she said.
— Extinction Rebellion Kingston-Upon-Thames (@KingstonXR) October 7, 2019
While some in London voiced their annoyance at the disruption caused by the demonstrations, others were supportive according to those on the ground.
"So many people walking past have been really supportive. We've had people giving us the thumbs up and telling us 'we're with you'.
"People see the crisis in the changing climate, in the increasing amount of flooding and the hottest temperatures we've seen," Ms Millett pointed out.
"We'll all be here overnight. This discomfort is nothing compared to what we will be facing if we don't act in time...and we'll keep coming back!"
Dorking resident Sarah Hayward, 42, who also headed to London on Monday, echoed her sentiments.
"If we do nothing, our current policies will see us reach somewhere between 3-4 degrees warming by the end of the century.
"As things stand now, at just under 1.5 degrees, we're seeing extreme heatwaves, droughts, floods and wild fires, so 3-4 degrees is utterly terrifying.
"I'm doing this so my children and all the younger generations don't have to face starvation, thirst, war and conflict. And so they don't have to make the impossible decision not to bring more children into the world," she said.
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