We May Stand a Chance: Greta Thunberg’s Impact on a Dying World
We are dying. Well, to specify, our planet is.
Global temperatures have risen one degree Celsius since 1900 and are expected to rise even more at the rate that the world is progressing.
This leaves us with a mere eleven years left to turn things around without detrimental consequences.
As young people panic about the state of their futures, political parties sit back and continue to collect capital from their parasitic ways.
Change needs to happen now! But it seems nowhere in sight… “I am only one person, what can I do?” is a common excuse used. We want to seem like we care about our surrounding environment, but are not actually willing to put in the time and effort to make a change.
Well, Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, is living proof of how one person can start a revolution.
Change cannot take place without rebellion. In 2015, Thunberg skipped school every Friday to stand outside Swedish parliament and protest their lack of action towards the degenerating environment. “Skolstrejk für klimatet” her sign boldly read, which translates to “School strike for the climate”.
Small as this action was, it served as the spark that would ignite a global flame.
By the year 2018, students around the globe marched across their individual cities for the sake of the climate crisis, rather than attending their Friday classes. Thunberg’s School Strike for the Climate turned into the world’s School Strike for the Climate, with people from near and far gathering weekly in solidarity for our dying planet. Marching, chanting, feeling like our voices matter; it’s exhilarating.
Since rising in popularity, Thunberg has collaborated with artists, and made numerous media appearances to perpetuate her message.
The song “The 1975” on 1975’s latest record, “Notes on a Conditional Form”, features a five-minute-long speech, recited by Thunberg, explaining the severity of the crisis, and how we need to rebel against governments who are not taking this significant issue seriously.
She also made an appearance on the popular television show “The Daily Show” with Trevor Noah, and proceeded to explain how we are currently in the middle of a mass-extinction period, with over 200 species going extinct every day, and that we have roughly eleven years before irreversible damage to the climate is made.
In August 2019, she set sail on the English coast, from Plymouth to North America, to attend the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, the COP25 in Santiago, and several other climate-related events taking place around North America.
Her act of sailing was done in protest of the excessive amounts of carbon and greenhouse gasses emitted by hundreds of planes, boats, and modes of transpiration daily.
While in North America, she is participating in various climate strikes, including one on September 20th in New York City, as well as one right here in Montreal on September 27th.
Climate change is not beyond our control; Greta Thunberg has shown us this. Everyone, no matter of status, wealth, or power, has the ability to make a difference in the state of our climate.
Because of Thunberg, there is a massive outcry from the citizens of the world, demanding their governments to take action. Because of Thunberg, more and more people are informing themselves about environmental issues, and how to live more sustainable lives. Because of Thunberg, we may actually stand a chance.
Written by: Valentina Tsilimidos
