She says…

The ‘hottest’ topic of late - excuse the horrible pun - is that of global warming.

In the past few years of my schooling, I’ve learned how greenhouse gases emitted on Earth are trapped in the atmosphere, that cows are remarkably one of the main causes of these gases and that we humans fund the cattle industry, in order to access our delicious source of Big Macs.

I only began to register the dire impacts that global warming would have on me and my generation when I started doing my own research. I was led down a rabbit hole of scary statistics, warnings and claims of the soon to be ‘Doomsday’. I found articles saying we only had 12 years to fix it and others saying four months. The shock and panic I felt, and still do feel, wasn’t nearly as close as to what I felt in class when learning about climate change. This wasn’t some theory I had to memorise. It was very real and I was going to have to live through it. Greta Thunberg’s “How Dare You” speech has been the subject of discussion all over the world, from articles on CNN to our very own Gulf Daily News. Despite the backlash it received, I found it absolutely enthralling. People have opinions on not just the subject of climate change, but even on the 16-year-old girl. To me, it didn’t matter that she didn’t deliver her speech in the accustomed UN way. She is so clearly tired and angry and has all the right to be. We can’t discard all the progress that nations around the world have made, but we can always strive to do better and do more. Her speech’s point wasn’t to be insulting, it was to be loud. And it worked. People are talking, writing, discussing and communicating. We are all suddenly doing more.

Whether it’s through published articles or even memes on Instagram, her speeches and voice have catalysed the climate change movement. People all over the world are marching together in unity, and whether we are successful or not in our strides, we have at least begun a discussion.

Athena Puri, 17, studies at St Christopher’s School. She is interested in studying marketing, finance and management and has begun applying to different universities. She loves to read and her favourite authors are Khaled Hosseini and Liane Moriarty. She is also extremely passionate about art and enjoys painting and drawing in her free time.