By Nicole Manning
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg, known by most as Greta Thunberg, has focused international attention on climate change. Climate Change, otherwise known as Global Warming, can be explained through the “greenhouse effect” the name for when an excess amount of fossil fuel and other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere causes the increase and decrease of the Earth’s average temperature of fifteen degrees Celsius. This fluctuation is slowly killing the place that humans, animals, and plants call home.
Thunberg has put society and many rich countries to shame, as we discuss climate change as an “existential threat,” go to rallies and speak about the topic on social media. Despite all this talk, we continue with our deleterious habits as before. Greta Thunberg, is an activist, a fighter, only looking for a change. Time has shown that we have the solutions and the resources to stop this crisis, we just need to act on what we know.
Greta Thunberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden to her parents Malena Erman and Svante Thunberg in the year 2003. Greta Thunberg became informed of climate change and its environmental impact by her school’s curriculum, where they taught her the basics— such as turn off the light to save energy, recycle your paper and plastic, and turn off running water when you are not using it. According to her TED Talk about her climate strike, at the age of 11, she became ill, mentally and physically from what she saw was a global disregard for the environment. Furthermore, she became depressed and she stopped talking and eating.
She states that she was later diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), and selective mutism. She makes clear that she doesn’t like to talk or interact with a lot of people, but as she states “ … I only speak when I think it is necessary, [and] now is one of those times…”(TED TALKxSTOCKHOLM). Her passion for this cause pushed her to be nominated for a Noble Peace Prize in March of 2019, a major achievement for a girl at such a young age who has created a movement and space for change and success.
But this is where her fight for us, for our future, and the spread of her message, starts. Thunberg expresses a sense of confusion, with all of these things affecting our environment, why are there no restrictions? Why hasn’t the overuse of fossil fuels become illegal? Where is the Equity and Justice for the climate and environment?
One important point in Thunberg’s environmental advocacy fight concerns the so-called Paris Agreement. According to the United Nations, “The Paris Agreement… brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so… The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels…”
While 175 parties of the United Nation have signed and agreed to this agreement, many rich countries are not doing their part with the resources they have to protect the environment and reduce emissions.
Climate change has come about through our way of living. Society continues to participate in harmful acts such as deforestation, air pollution, not saving energy, polluting the oceans and ecosystems with trash and other debris, and most importantly the extinction of fascinating and vital creatures to not only the ecosystem but to people. Climate change has most importantly affected resources that society depends on, even though many take them for granted. Some of these resources include, “ … water, energy, transportation, wildlife, agriculture, ecosystems, and human health…”(NOAA).
Some of the effects on these resources are that droughts are becoming more common in many places, and human health is consequently increasingly vulnerable at this time since climate change has increased waterborne diseases and insect/rodent transmitted illnesses. Animal habitats and ecosystems are being gravely modified, many times hurting the food chain. If society continues allowing these harmful emissions from cars and factories there is a chance that the Earth won’t even be a place we can inhabit in the future.
In 2018 Thunberg started “Friday’s for the Future” to encourage her peers and other students to skip school, demand action from their government and to take actions of their own. Her first goal in ninth grade was for the Swedish parliament to cut emissions by 15% each year. In 2019 on September 20th, millions skipped school to support her message, “… to stop the fossil fuel industry.”(Barnard, New York Times). This is an example of how over recent years younger generations are coming together to push for change. First, the Parkland Shooting activists brought people together to fight gun control; now Greta Thunberg is bringing people together to fight the emissions of fossil fuel to stop climate change.
Thunberg spoke to Congress in September of 2019, giving an emotional speech, about how we need to stop climate change. She most importantly expressed that she is not an adult or a scientist, but that she is speaking based on facts, sources and other data from the scientific community. According to the U.K. Guardian, Greta Thunberg stated, “ … I know you are trying, just not hard enough. Sorry.”(Gambino)
This climate crisis, that for many still remains a vague idea, has reached “hair on fire” levels of urgency. However, a no-nonsense, not afraid to speak her mind seventeen-year-old has proven in this day in age that if you are passionate about something that you should speak up and not give up on your dreams. She is an example that if a change needs to happen, perhaps younger generations need to take it into their own hands and work together for a better future.