The honorable teen fighting for the survival of the planet

Greta Thunberg is a name that is gaining traction worldwide, becoming a symbol of courage and hope for young people. She is a 16-year-old teenager from Sweden with Asperger’s whose “skolstrejk för klimatet” or “school strike for climate” on August 20, 2018, went viral. It has been an ongoing movement ever since, and she has amassed 7.8 million followers on Instagram and has recently been touring around the United States fighting for the survival of the planet. Particularly to the younger generations, she is a hero in a world where old, ignorant politicians refuse to listen to the facts and demands of the masses. Greta could change this. Eventually it is the youth who will take over, and it is ultimately their right to decide their future. A future where the world will not experience a chain reaction of climate disasters is a world the youth want to see, and they will not allow let the ignorance of a few powerful individuals to seal their fate. 

Although many individuals including President Trump and Bolosnaro of Brazil ignore the validity of climate change, it pervades whether their boomer minds believe it or not. A quick Google search can direct you to the official NASA global warming page, where there is a myriad of evidence and statistics enough to convince a five-year-old that the world is in deep trouble. The global temperature is rising and so are ocean temperatures. Ice sheets are shrinking, glaciers are retreating, and sea levels are rising. As a result of climate change, millions if not billions of people could be displaced as land is taken over by water. Plants and animals could lose half their habitat. Increased temperatures could put a strain on farmers who provide food, and human health could be affected as the heat stress could increase diseases and lower air quality. 

Still, somehow, politicians somehow manage to deny all of the facts. Here are just a few examples:

Trump: “Well first of all I’m not a believer of global warming… it could be warming, and it’s gonna start to cool at some point.”

Jim Inhofe: “We keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record… I asked the chair, ‘You know what this is? It’s a snowball! And that’s just from out here…” (He literally picks up a snowball and displays it for the house to see in order to prove his point that global warming is false). 

These are the people in charge of the United States. These are the people who could be responsible for the further degradation of the environment.

It is these issues which Greta Thunberg desperately wants to address, and to make individuals feel “panicked” about. This is truly a noble cause for anyone, let alone a teenager. However, she has faced distasteful criticism from a slew of old conservative men, as they don’t find the act of saving the planet to be noble.

Stephen Miller demanding for a child to be tazed Photo courtesy of @redsteeze

Charlie Kirk falsely labelling Thunberg as an ANTIFA member Photo courtesy of @charliekirk11

D’Souza ridiculously comparing a girl fighting for climate change to Nazi propaganda Photo courtesy of @DineshDSouza

An angry, ignorant boomer Photo courtesy of @NolteNC

It is highly upsetting to see many conservatives oppose such a brilliant movement. Furthermore, none of these tweets shown contain constructive criticism, but are empty insults slnung at Thunberg. Rather than attempt to make a case against her, these old men insult her looks, accuse her of being affiliated with awful groups, or ask for her to be tased. However, this is also why her movement is gaining momentum; the younger generation is tired of older generation thinking they know what is best for them. They are tired of their ignorance. We look to Greta Thunberg as a key to our victory against powerful politicians refusing to make a change to create a better world. 

In her Vice documentary, a British politician can be seen criticizing the new ecological movements springing across the globe, stating how children need to do homework and stay in school. All this protesting is not good for students. However, we know that if no action will take place, our world will crumble by 2050, and unlike this old politician, we can see the urgency in the need for change. The older generations tend to think that they know best, but right now, the young know better. The young understand the urgencies, while the old does not; the young are hungry to act.

Featured Image—Greta Thunberg fighting for climate change Photo courtesy of The Guardian

by Wesly Wong