The global impact of one Swedish teenager

Last month young people gathered in Guildhall Square for another school and college strike to highlight the issue of climate change.
Fellow student, Abigail Hartt, gave up her 100 per cent attendance to take part the recent strike.Fellow student, Abigail Hartt, gave up her 100 per cent attendance to take part the recent strike.
Fellow student, Abigail Hartt, gave up her 100 per cent attendance to take part the recent strike.

The strikes are part of a movement instigated by Swedish teenager, Greta Thumberg, to make governments sit up and take action to reduce the impacts of climate change on future generations. 

Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan, gave a speech at the rally.

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Mr Morgan said: ‘It’s a travesty that young people are having to take such action but I fully support people here today. It hit home when an eight-year-old said to me “there’s no planet B”.’ Ongoing temperature analysis from NASA’s GISS (Goddard Institute for Space Studies) tells us that the average global temperature has increased by 0.8 degrees with two thirds of the warming having occurred since 1975, at a rate of 0.15 - 0.2 degrees per decade.

Furthermore, due to climate change, polar ice caps are melting which leads to flooding, disruption to fish migration- thus a hit to the fishing industry - and reduced biodiversity.

While some people may dispute climate change, a survey by the British Science Association revealed that 93 per cent accept of people accept the reality of the concept. The problem is not in convincing people that climate change is real but how they can have an affect on the situation. Everyday people are exposed to campaigns giving responsibility to the individual consumer and thus removing it from large companies and governments. Whilst major firms encourage local recycling and smart eating, the majority of greenhouse gas contributions can not be traced back to such small decisions. This further proves why strikes at this time are so meaningful. From worker’s unions to civil rights; history shows that striking works. Moreover the strikes held in September were global and as such will hopefully capture audiences in a way that is desperately needed. All thanks to a Swedish teenager.

By Honor Davis, Year 11

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