Climate change is an issue we all need to worry about, however in the eyes of many global leaders, it seems like the issue won’t be taken so seriously.

One young Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, is making the climate change issue a big deal. She has gone from protesting at her own country’s parliament for climate change to giving a speech at the U.N. Climate Action Summit that has given her positive and negative reactions. 

Her speech scolded world leaders and criticised them for not taking any action to stop climate change. She ripped them apart by saying her childhood is ruined and that the science proving climate change should not be ignored. What is really scary is that she brought up how the warming of the planet could set off a chain reaction that would be irreversible if we don’t cut off our carbon emissions. 

Her powerful speech has inspired other young people to join and fight against climate change, though others have made negative comments against her. 

A conservative political commentator and podcast host, Michael Knowles, was a guest on a Fox News show, and he made some comments on the activist. He called her “mentally ill” due to the fact that she has Aspergers, which Thunberg has been vocal about. Asperger’s Syndrome is a disorder that affects the person’s ability to socialize and communicate with others. A spokesperson for Fox News had issued an apology to Thunberg. Another guest on the show, Christopher Hahn, interrupted Knowles and said “you’re a grown man and you’re attacking a child. Shame on you.”

USA today was waiting to get a response from Knowles, however he took to twitter and tweeted how Thunberg’s mother wrote a book on her daughter and described her problems while dealing with aspergers, which lead to him saying that it is shameful using a child’s disorders to gain a political agenda.

Knowles isn’t the only person to mock or dispresct Thunberg. President Trump tweeted how the activist seemed like a very happy girl with a bright future; and this tweet can be seen in different tones. 

Thunberg however got a chance to give the President a very deadly looking stare during the Climate Action Summit. The stare from Thunberg has gone viral, sparking various online memes and discussions. President Trump is the main attraction when it comes to climate change since he considers it a hoax created by the chinese for profit. 

The young activist has turned her negative comments into a positive by explaining how having aspergers is more of a super power. Her tweet said that they are attacking her disorder because they will find any way to avoid the real focus, which is climate change. No matter what she gets thrown at, she will constantly remind everyone that science proves climate change is real, and that making fun of her will not stop her activism. 

It is time to quit asking for prayers, reassurance, and aspirations from the adults. It is shocking enough to see a 16 year old girl from Sweden come up on the stage and confront global leaders on the issue with no fear. 

The very beginning of her speech at the Climate Action Summit was most impactful as she said, “this is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you.” 

It is wrong to see someone so young to take action up with global leaders; setting aside whether or not she is doing this for her or for media coverage. This event is for global leaders, not for children. 

Hopefully all people will finally see and understand that climate change is no joke and action must be taken. Thunberg’s school climate strike movement she organized at the age of 15 has gotten bigger on a global level, and young people around the world have started protesting. The protest is named “Fridays for Future,” since Thungberg started protesting about climate change to Sweden’s Parliaments on Fridays. Her twitter page is filled with posts and retweets of recent climate strikes of students and young people, with huge numbers of people protesting at different locations around the world from London, England to Morelia, Mexico, to Vancouver, Canada. 

There was a protest in New York last September where Thungberg and 21 other young plaintiffs protested in front of the Supreme Court to force a court ordered action on climate change, resulting in around 250,000 people who attended the protest. She is definitely making a big impact on the climate change movement. 

If these strikes and protests aren’t enough to show some sort of initiative towards stopping climate change, than these global leaders will have failed us big time. Hopefully they take Thunberg’s speech seriously, because if they don’t, our warming earth and poor choices will soon catch up to us when it is too late.