Sixteen-year-old Great Thunburg sat out of Swedish parliament with a sign that said Skolstrejk för klimatet which means “School strike for the climate.”
Thunberg was only eight years old when she found out about climate change or global warming.
“Apparently that was something humans have created based on there way of living,” Thunberg said in her TEDXStockholm talk.
Greta was 11 when she grew extremely depressed; she stopped talking and stopped eating. She was then shortly diagnosed with Asperge Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Selective Mutism.
“I think us Autistic people are the normal ones and the rest of you are pretty strange,” Thunberg said.
Students from other communities started to join the movement, which started “Fridays for Future.”
Thunberg shows the way one person’s impact can inspire other people. She and other teenagers have started a movement and it is truly amazing to see, especially because there is a lot of misconception around what teenagers care about and a lot of times when you think of what teenagers are doing in their free time, spreading awareness about our planet isn’t one of them. I most likely would have no clue about climate change was a real thing if it wasn’t for kids my age talking about it.All around the world people are striking and using the voice that they have to make people aware of the situation that is happening and it is happening faster than we are expecting it to.
Climate strikes were happening in cities like Los Angeles, New York, London and Hong Kong. Climate change is going to affect us younger generations the most, so having us be aware of what’s happening is super important so that we can help fight for our future on this planet. With having most teenagers not really understand the serious effects of climate change it’s been difficult.
Simple things can help change. Climate change is increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and everyday living like flying or driving your car have a big impact on the change of climate. A big misconception that people believe is that we are not that powerful to destroy the earth. But we do and we are destroying it.
As I have been able to learn more about climate change and hear about what kids my age and activists like Greta have to say about really has inspired me into looking into ways I can help my future. It’s a very serious topic that should not be taken lightly. The most important thing to me is that we just get people aware of the effects that the way we live and the bad habits we have grown over time is taking a dangerous turn. It has been hard to hear about what is going to happen to our future pretty soon if we don’t take control. But one person can’t fix it all and if we stand together as a community it can make a difference.
