The Earth rotates around the sun all day, every day with no change. However, the Earth’s climate continues to change. Throughout this year, 16 year old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has been traveling the world and promoting climate strikes in order to improve the Earth. 

Thunberg started her activism in August 2018 by striking outside of Swedish parliament to call for better action on global warming. She began having weekly walkouts on Fridays to get more people involved and interested in climate change. By February 2019, over 30 countries had schools participating in these walkouts. Now, there are over four million people involved in climate strikes in over 160 countries, according to trust.org, an organization in relation with Thomas Rueters. 

“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis,” Thunberg said. “And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.” On October 4, Thunberg staged a strike in Iowa City to help reduce the city’s carbon dioxide output and achieve 100 percent renewable energy. Over 3,000 people were gathered at the strike to listen to Thunberg’s message. 

There are many ways Thunberg suggests to get involved. She recommends joining a climate strike and continuing to strike every Friday, volunteering to environmental organizations or start a local campaign. Doing these ideas can help both the world according to Thunberg, and the Xavier community according to the student body. 

“I think the Xavier community could improve by educating their students on how every individual can help reduce their own negative impact on our environment,” senior Anika Munjal said. “We could start using recycled plastics in the cafeteria and take better measures to reduce our footprint as well.”

Thunberg believes climate change can only be stopped with the help of everyone. She continues to encourage students to strike every Friday and to keep fighting for what they believe in. Doing this can help save the world.