On August 20, 2018, a 15-year-old girl sat outside the Swedish parliament building. It was the first day of school after summer vacation, but she refused to go to class. She continued to sit on the ground with a sign next to her. It said “School Strike for the Climate” in Swedish.
The girl’s name was Greta Thunberg. Day after day, she sat in front of the building. At first she was alone, but more and more people joined her. Not only students but also teachers took a day off from school to join her strike.
A few months after Greta’s strike began, her movement spread to many other countries through social media. For example, 15,000 people joined in Australia, 4,000 in Switzerland, 13,000 in Belgium, and 25,000 in Germany. If she hadn’t taken action, the movement wouldn’t have spread so quickly.
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