Most of the time, when you see environmental topics in the news, they are pretty depressing. The burning of the Amazon Rainforest, the extinction of species, sea levels rising, and stronger natural disasters are only a few examples. Even though these disastrous events are happening, and are extremely important to be shown in news outlets, it is also important to show some of the positive actions being done around the globe. So here are four incredible things people around the world are doing to combat climate change.
- Greta Thunberg & The Youth Climate Strike
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You’ve probably seen her in the news recently for crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a carbon neutral, solar powered boat. Greta Thunberg, a Swedish girl, started the Youth Climate Strike just over a year ago. In order to raise awareness about the importance on acting against climate change, Greta started to skip school every Friday to protest outside of Swedish Parliament. This quickly became viral and over the span of a year, hundreds of thousands of students around the globe began participating in these strikes demanding change for the environment. During her time in the United States (in time for the UN Climate Summit in New York), Greta has been to multiple cities leading youth climate strikes and is planning to be the voice for the youth at the UN Climate Summit this September.
- Fortnite Creator Buys Land to Protect from Deforestation
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Tim Sweeny, the creator of the popular Fortnite video game, recently bought a vast amount of forested land in North Carolina to protect it from being cut down. For years this property has sparked the interests of people wanting to develop the area. Sweeny spent $15 on this property in his home state, and says he plans to hold on to it until a permantent nature conservation is created.
- The Green Wall in Africa
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The Sahara Desert has slowly been expanding, resulting in a loss in forested habitat. In order to preserve these important natural habitats from desertification, a group of nations in 2007 decided to start to build “The Green Wall.” These countries have agreed to plant trees along the southern border of the Sahara in order to slow deserfication. Over the 12 years, the project is only 15 percent complete, but has already shown to be positively impacting the area.
- Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Donating Guitar Auction Proceeds to Fight Climate Change
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Rock legend David Gilmour of Pink Floyd has been taking action in the fight against climate change. Gilmour auctioned off all of his guitars – including guitars that iconic Pink Floyd songs were written with – this year. This auction raised over 21.5 million dollars, which Gilmour donated to a nonprofit that focuses on combating climate change. Gilmour is a perfect example of people taking action to help the planet in a positive way.
Climate change is rapidly changing, but one small step to stop it, goes a long mile.