Climate Strikers Are Using Clever Signs To Make Their Feelings Known

These protest signs from today’s climate strikes are inspiring

Hundreds of thousands of students from across the globe went on strike today, protesting global inaction on climate change and asking world leaders to step up to do their part. People poured into the streets and made their collective voices heard — both verbally and in the signs they held — many of them too perfect to ignore.

Students of all ages took part in today’s protests, joining the masses who decided to skip school or work and spend the day fighting for our planet. Though some cities like New York excused its 1.1 million students, allowing them to skip school today and not penalize students joining the strike, others will have unexcused absences or consequences but felt the movement was more than worth it.

Parents, community leaders, and many others joined forces with students in support of the protests, reminding the governments from around the world that if something isn’t done now, their children (and children’s children) won’t have the same quality of life that previous generations have enjoyed.

Of course, sometimes you’ve got to channel Shawn Mendes to get people’s attention like one New Yorker did:

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted his support of the protesters in New York, saying, “New York City stands with our young people. They’re our conscience.” Other cities around the globe boasted similar crowds all taking to the streets to get their messages across:

Great Thunberg tweeted out updates from the protests, sharing this one all the way from Antarctica, saying, “When we say we strike on all continents — we mean ALL continents. This is Antarctica.”

Years before, Thunberg, a Swedish school student, sat in front of the Swedish parliament building with a hand-painted sign, kicking off a worldwide movement after she captured the world’s attention. Since then, she’s inspired students globally to leave school and demand action for the planet on many occasions, drawing bigger and bigger crowds with each one.

The protests are happening at a time where our planet feels like it’s at a tipping point. The fires are continuing to rage in the Amazon rainforest. impacting carbon levels across the globe. Iceland recently held a funeral for a 700-year-old glacier, the first that was lost to climate change. One million species are threatened with extinction; many have already been lost. The situation is dire and protesters are calling on their governments to act before it’s too late.

As horrifying as things have become, seeing all these young people out protesting and adding their voices to the movement is inspiring and will give you hope for all of our collective futures.