'Unite Behind The Science,' Greta Thunberg Tells 1,200 At Charlotte Climate Strike

[appalachiablue]

Source: The Charlotte Observer

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who leads a global movement of school-skipping youth demanding action on climate change, brought her blunt message to Charlotte on Friday.

Thunberg, 16, spoke at a student-led “climate strike” Friday outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, turning what has been a weekly vigil by a Charlotte teen into an exuberant gathering of more than 1,000.

Inspired by Thunberg, Myers Park High student Mary Ellis Stevens, 14, has held her own calls to action outside the government center every week since February. On Friday they both gave voice to a generation that they say will live with climate change’s impacts...



Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article237108539.html

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A crowd began gathering outside the government center Friday in Charlotte well in advance of the event’s noon start, growing to what police estimated to be up to 1,200 people by 1 p.m.

“When I started striking I was convinced I was going to be alone forever, so this is really special,” Mary Ellis told the crowd. “When I became lonely, I imagined the streets filled with strikers — and look at what we have today.” Stevens called inaction on climate change a “betrayal” of younger generations. She asked: “How will we look our grandchildren in the eyes?”



- Denise Eller and her granddaughter, Gracey Eller, 10, drove 180 miles from Clarkesville, Ga., to hear teen climate activist Greta Thunberg speak in Charlotte on Friday.

- Greta Thunberg headlines Charlotte, NC climate crisis rally

Climate change in North Carolina:

▪ The state has warmed one-half degree to one degree in the past century. The Southeast region has warmed less than most of the nation, but warming has accelerated in the past 40 years.

▪ Sea level has risen more than a foot on the N.C. coast over the past century. It is rising about one inch every decade, but higher in parts of the coast where land is sinking. Rising seas erode beaches and worsen coastal flooding.

▪ Tropical storms and hurricanes have become more intense over the past 20 years. It’s unclear whether that is a long-term trend, but hurricane wind speeds and rainfall rates are expected to increase as the climate warms.

▪ Rainfall is becoming more intense in some parts of the Southeast, but droughts in the region have also increased by about 10% in the past 40 years.

▪ By 2100, most of the state is likely to see temperatures above 95 degrees on 20 to 40 days a year. That’s compared to about 10 days now.

Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article237108539.html#storylink=cpy
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[Withywindle]

1. This gives me hope!

People can be so dismissive because these kids are young. "They should be in school."

Well, why should kids be in school? To learn. Young people participating in this movement ARE learning. They're learning about science and the environment, they're learning about capitalism and economics, they're learning about history and geography and how different societies have related to nature over time, they're working with people from different ages and walks of life and cultures and learning from them. They're learning how to run an effective protest movement and how to cope with hate and negativity without letting it break their spirit. They're learning how to get people to listen to them and how to organize on all sorts of levels from the very local to the global. They're creative, they're brave, and they're smart enough to know they're fighting for their lives. The education they're getting is miles beyond what they'd have if they DIDN'T do this.

All thanks and blessings to them, and also to all the families who support them.