PA ImagesAfter months of campaigning and raising awareness for climate change, Greta Thunberg managed to sum up 2019 with a warning to the world in five chilling words.
With just three days left before the start of a new decade, social media users have been sharing throwback photos and recollections of their accomplishments to indicate how things have changed in the last year.
A recent Twitter hashtag, ‘#2019in5words’, has people summing up their entire year in a matter of just a few characters, with many looking forward to leaving the year behind and starting afresh.
PA ImagesUnfortunately, starting afresh is not something our planet can do, no matter how much we might hope it could. With climate change an ever-looming threat and the environment suffering as a result, our world is in deep trouble, and it’s not something we can just leave behind in 2019.
Thunberg emphasised this as she joined in the Twitter trend and summed up the state of our planet, writing:
Our house is on fire.
Our house is on fire.#2019in5words
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2019
The tweet is harrowing because it perfectly encapsulates the issues we’re currently facing, both literally and metaphorically.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, the year 2019 concludes a ‘decade of exceptional global heat’, with this year set to be among the top three on record. Not only is the planet suffering with insufferably hot weather, though, but also actual, real life fires.
Earlier this year, NASA shared images showing blazes sweeping across the Amazon rainforest, and while many people have been celebrating the festive season residents of Australia have been dealing with bushfires which have taken lives, homes and animal habitats.
PA ImagesThunberg is one of many activists trying to raise awareness for the climate crisis, and her tweet emphasises the urgency of the situation by pointing out it’s happening to our ‘house’; the one and only place we have to live.
Fridays for Future, the climate strike movement Thunberg works with, supported the 16-year-old with a five word tweet of its own.
It read:
We want climate action now.
We want climate action now#2019in5words
— Fridays For Future USA (@FFF_USA) December 28, 2019
There is an incredible amount of work to be done when it comes to saving the planet, from both members of the public and world leaders, and Thunberg’s activism is helping put pressure on people to act.
She has encouraged millions of people across the world to take part in climate strikes and has gone out of her way to limit her own impact on the planet, by travelling in electric cars and by boat, rather than aeroplane.
Though the 16-year-old receives some criticism for her actions, it is work like her’s that encourages long term change. Hopefully people will pay attention to her five words.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.