By Derek Martin, Sustainability Coordinator
“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth – how dare you!” These were the fiery words Greta Thunberg hurled at world leaders during the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City on Sept. 23. It seems almost impossible that just a little over a year ago, Thunberg first sat in front of the Swedish Parliament to demand that her government take stronger action against the climate crisis.
Holding a sign that read “School Strike for Climate” she ignited the world. On Sept. 20 Susquehanna students, faculty, and staff joined 600 people in Lewisburg and an estimated 4 million across the globe to demand meaningful actions to address the largest challenge to ever face the human race. One teenager with a simple sign and a powerful message inspired one of the, if not the largest climate crisis protests we’ve ever seen.
In 2018, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a stark warning that we must drastically reduce carbon emissions by 2030 if we have any chance at plateauing at 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. Following up that report, the IPCC issued a report in September 2019 that indicates that glaciers are melting faster than previously thought and calculated that Greenland’s ice sheets are losing 275 gigatons of ice annually. This melting ice is raising sea levels and will affect every coast- al community, which according to the census is 94 million people in the U.S. alone.
We live in uncertain times but that doesn’t mean that we are powerless. In fact, it is the opposite. Each and every one of us has the potential to make a difference, like a 16-year-old Swedish student.
While we can’t all be Thunberg, we can and should all be activists. Corporations, special interests and lobbyists have money and influence, but the American people have numbers on their side. I truly believe that if we, as a nation, become climate activists we can change our society. We don’t all have to wave signs and shout. Activism comes in many forms. Time is of the upmost importance. While the impacts of the climate crisis intensifies, we only have 10 years to radically transform our society.
Though that may seem like plenty of time in theory, in practice this will be around the time that you are considering getting married, elevating to a leadership position at work, establishing a permanent home, and/ or weighing the decision to have a family of your own. Without climate action now, this future is in question. Ten years from now when you look back at this moment, what will you say you did to protect your future?
Interested in getting involved in climate activism? Email sustainability@susqu.edu to start the conversation.
