Good luck Greta, it's been nearly 30 years since the first report by the IPCC. Nearly 30 years during which we could not plead ignorance, yet since then global emissions have increased by 60 percent and in the words of NASA's former lead climate scientist, James Hansen:
"There’s no argument about the fact that we will lose the coastal areas, now occupied by most of the large cities of the world. It’s only a question of how soon. That message, I don’t think, has been clearly brought to the policymakers and the public."
The Earth is like a giant iron ball, it takes a lot of pushing to get it to roll. And we've pushing hard now for 100 years and it's starting to roll.
Before long we'll be begging it to stop.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/12/climate-scientist-james-hansen-i-dont-think-im-an-alarmist
33
Perhaps George Bernard Shaw had people like Greta Thunberg in mind when he made the perceptive - and widely applicable - observation:
"Reasonable people try to adapt themselves to the world; unreasonable people try to adapt the world to themselves. Therefore all progress depends upon unreasonable people."
No fool, that GBS.
32
Readers should find online the latest interviews with Dr. James Lovelock, the prescient British scientist whose published works were by the 1980's alerting the conscientious to the emergence of exactly those climate events we are now experiencing.
And the scientific work of David Keeling, which began recording daily fluctuations in levels of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere which, combined with the data recovered from ice hundreds of thousands of years old, allowed him to build the Keeling Curve, a "hockey stick" graph showing the exponential rise of CO2 in recent years. That data is available online from Moana Loa island in Hawaii. Greta is very familiar with the numbers,available to everyone. Even the vastly ignorant people like this boyo: "Steve Milloy, a former member of the Trump transition team, (who) described her on Twitter as “the ignorant teenage climate puppet.”
Humankind will do well to bring that element to heel and unite behind today's straight talkers. and that includes Democratic Party candidates who the NYTimes, the "journal of record,"is patently shunning.
9
Trump has a climate policy, climate change is a hoax just hug some coal get next to nature.
2
@texsun
The boat Ms. Thunberg has chosen to make her statement in was built in an air conditioned hanger out of petroleum based reinforced plastics. I guess she figures there isn't enough fore-ever stuff floating around around in the oceans. (I think boats used to be made out of wood.) And the bucket at the back of the boat, dumping raw sewage into the navigable waters of the U.S. is illegal. Hopefully, the U.S Coast Guard will take appropriate actions.
18
Let's hope Greta's, and other youth-based efforts, encourage high schools, colleges and universities, to ramp up their related service-learning programs. Course credit, for helping at risk familes and communities mitigate the effects of climate change, would further increase youth knowledge and understanding, while significantly increasing the scale of current, if any, efforts.
8
I admire her dedication and wish her a safe and successful journey and arrival, but wish that as a young girl, she could have allowed enough time to find a good ocean cruising sailboat. That would have allowed her to sail at a somewhat slower pace and experience the joys of being at sea, standing watch on a peaceful night, having a real bunk and some fresh food with her meals, even perhaps marveling at the boat and crew's abilities to weather a storm in somewhat greater comfort. She could have still sailed sustainably with solar panels and saltwater conversion, which many boats have, now. Sustainable living doesn't have to be about suffering -- it's about paying attention to the limited resources aboard ship (and on land), appreciating the wonders of our world, planning ahead for what you and the boat really need for the voyage, and respecting the considerable and sometimes formidable power of wind and weather.
Still, if a racing sailboat captures the world's attention and helps more people and governments dramatically reduce use of fossil fuels, preserve forests and rainforests, and slow global heating fast enough to avoid an increase of 2 degrees C, and halt ocean acidification, that would be great.
12
I appreciate her sailing, rather than flying, but what IS the cost of that sail boat? Why can’t she read during the day? They act like she can’t read at all using solar lite.
The trend is to talk of biking vs driving, sailing vs. flying, vegan vs meat eater, solar home vs. coal powered - but, seldom to NEVER is their any mention of wealth vs minimalism when it comes to lowering your carbon footprint.
Minimalism, is that a negative message??!!
18
Everyone will pay lip service to the issue at this assembly and go home and do nothing. I don't know why they bother anymore.
3
@Satyaban We bother because we (by which I mean "young people") have the audacity to want to fight for our own survival. To not bother anymore would be to resign our entire species to a few decades of increasingly-horrific conditions (the brunt of which will be borne by those of us least responsible for climate change), followed by our collective demise. We don't want that. Sure, it might be useless to try at this point... but even if that's the case, what's the harm in trying anyway?
26
Many here are asking what we can do individually and whether Greta and her trip in the racing yacht will truly make a difference. I say we should all try our best, and follow Greta's lead. At least she is taking action and recruiting followers which is way more than most Americans. Those that have taken action in their own way are to be applauded. Yes, we need leadership particularly in the US, but all other countries in the world have pledged and many US states, cities and businesses have taken action, to mitigate the climate crisis. We just don't hear about it in the US media because we are so distracted by Trump and the GOP who undermine the environment at every step to support the fossil fuel companies and Big Ag. So instead of criticizing Greta, take action and do your bit instead of sticking your heads in the sand! Join the Global Climate Strike in your area on September 20 - it will be a start down a long road but it will be worth it!
19
Let’s hope she will manage to bring more climate awareness in the US, can’t wait to hear what 45 has to say about her:)
6
Ah, the irony of it. Sailing on a boat that was made of petroleum products. Will she be sailing back to Europe when the conference is over?
11
Criticizing the consumption of resources for the boat is a bit meaningless, as the boat was not built for the purpose of taking Ms. Thunberg across the Atlantic.
It says Captain Boris Hermann "has sailed around the world in this yacht", which is a racing yacht with its own racing team.
10
@Jesper Bernoe
And boats built to this standard last for decades. When that thing finally hits the boneyard, I doubt a single jetliner from this time will be still be in the air.
15
Will Greta return by home by the same none-carbon polluting way? Or will she fly home? The world wonders.
8
Greta the Great!
7
We owe it to her and all young people to take action now!
Global warming/Climate change, call it what you will, is a cancer. Politicians, leaders of industry and the operators in the global economy are the doctors that can treat it.
The lab technicians (scientists) have confirmed a biopsy reveals what is causing this cancer to grow. The doctors know how to cure this but so far have only taken blood samples and prescribed aspirin.
They have not treated the cancer though the diagnosis took place over 30 years ago. The patient has shown increasing signs of distress but they do nothing but bicker.
Do you think the Dodo, the Javan Tiger or the White Rhino were/are aware of their extinction, the causes of it, the remedies that could have prevented it?
"Take care of Mother Nature and her beauty. She was given to not by your parents, but by your children" - Anonymous
6
Typical liberal hypocrisy. If she's going to sail, why not do it on a wooden vessel with cloth sails instead of the environmental monstrosity she's sailing on? That ship is mainly comprised of petroleum byproducts - not to mention the amount of fossil fuels used in its construction.
And she has close to a million social media followers, eh? And where does the material come from to make the devices - PCs, phones, tablets, etc. as well as the massive amounts of energy used for social media - which represents a negative net balance to the environment.
Nor does there seem to be any concern about their clothing - made in sweatshops and again using petroleum and petroleum by-products.
Yeah, they really care about the environment alright. Sure.
12
@Sparky We care about a global system that forces individuals to make choices within a system which we have little to no sway over. One can participate in society while also attempting to make things better, no?
24
Courage. Strength. Maturity. Intelligence. Altruism. Faith.
Commitment. Sobriety. Vision...
Pause and Calm in urgent and desperate speeches... Necessary speeches and Actions... no one else delivers.
What more can be said of this young girl carrying the Cross of Human Folly?
Her detractors do not seem to be able to grasp the full picture of their misery. They are acting like pathetic, small, vile, wicked opponents...of a Sixteen year old...
all for the sake of NO change at all !
...all throwing stones at a youngster with clean and clear principles...who's only trying to Save the World. She doesn't really know how to go about it, so she's got a World of sterile opposition. So, how are all these opponents going to be of any service to anything, including their own business-as-usual program ?
If i was not 68 years old and sober with experience...i would say this is the End of the World...and Jesus is back...with a new Agenda.
And i might not be so far off the mark...
8
Yay for Greta and low carbon travel, just unfortunate she chose to set sail from the Mayflower Marina, almost 400 years after that namesake boat brought ecological destruction and genocide to these lands. Symbolism is important.
3
Zero carbon? Wonder how they built that yacht without carbon emissions.
10
The negative comments here are really sad. Like the carbon emissions to make the fiberglass boat or that she is too young to understand what she is doing. These adult comments here can be so ignorant more so than Greta. Should she discard every petroleum item she uses because it has released carbon?!? She is quite aware and knowledgeable of what she is doing. Did she did not mention that humans cannot do much without fossil fuels? All you angry and ignorant people will get a wake up call soon regardless of Greta. Humanity’s greatest challenge is upon us. Greta is just one of many who are saying what science has proven and angry people are in obvious denial about. There will be many more.
29
I appreciate the symbolic gesture of what's being interpreted as a publicity stunt, but as another reader pointed out the carbon footprint of a composite boat dilutes the intent. Just as windmills require oil to lubricate the shafts and gears, it's imperative that the message is not lost to hypocrisy.
4
she seems like the new Al Gore who is notorious for flying on private jets to give talks on the warming climate. this is a multimillion dollar yacht with a crew to transport one person? hypocrisy at its best.
9
God speed Greta
6
Please realize that there will be a film crew on the boat, and probably her actor/singer parents, who have written a book on environment and sustainability and who most likely have prepped young Greta and prepared her scripted presentations.
6
and?
12
You are in inspiration to the world Greta, my age 15 daughter, like you, cares deeply about the planet. Bon Voyage. We live without a car, our entire lives, and try our best to be an example for our children, and others. We try to buy local and only organic. More people need to embrace your message and vision. The earth is slowly dying without proper care and attention. This is the most important issue of my day - each day- and of our time. I applaud you. Safe journey, may your message spread far and wide.
25
When I first heard of Greta, I couldn't believe how much I related to her. The alienation, anxiety and introversion, I had it in early childhood as well. I wanted nothing to do with people at large. I saw their destructive ways. It was very apparent to me. It's the clear headedness of early childhood. I too, made it through once I found purpose - to not be as destructive as those I observed. I'm a mere shadow compared to Greta. She doesn't let anyone diminish her with their cruel backstabbing. She knows her purpose is true. It is a noble, urgent one. A heroine for our time.
24
Greta is an inspiration. Bon voyage to her and the crew
22
"She has more than 871,000 Twitter followers..."
Does she have an inkling of the energy it takes to run that infrastructure--and the use of it?
8
@Robert One Twitter account, used specifically to promote climate-wary thought and environmentally-conscious decisions in our nation's most open-minded population, is an extraordinarily efficient use of a very small amount of energy required. She isn't running all of Twitter and all of the user interfaces.
20
@Robert - Yes, she is responsible for 1 billionth of the energy it takes servers to process her tweets. She must be stopped! (Sarcasm intended)
8
@Robert And the alternative is...do nothing? We have to use the technology of today to create the infrastructure of tomorrow.
8
I send Greta all my love and hugs to an amazing young woman who has found her purpose to be here on Mother Earth at a very young age. It’s people like Greta that will shift the paradigm from those that question climate change to people who like the rest of us try everyday to care, nurture and protect our earth. Thank you Greta for your devoted commitment to stop the destruction of this jewel of a planet.
27
She truly is an inspiration to me and my peers. She sets an amazing example of strength and leadership, going against some extremely powerful people in order to help save billions.
25
Gosh, I am truly inspired! Wish her all the best in her quest to make some positive changes for this beautiful planet we live on. You go Greta!
26
I love that she is calling attention to the most serious problem of our time by her high visibility and symbolic actions. It does trouble me that she is using the vehicle of an extremely wealthy family, not an option for practically everyone else. Not a feasible example.
4
@Forestwerk ...and how would you set an example if you were to travel across the Atlantic...and you were Greta Thunberg coming to America ? build your own sail boat maybe ? I think the Rothschild family members involved and the Royals of Monaco are delivering a strong message by lending this superb piece of engineering to this youngster. Think about it.
10
Good luck Greta, we hope you have an amazing and safe journey. Thank you for all that you are doing on behalf of our planet, humanity and climate change.
27
I'm so inspired by this brave girl. Safe journey, Greta!
22
It’s fine that she is a young activist and has been a student spokesperson. However, I think it’s a bad idea for her to take a year off during high school. Without her student status she loses some clout as representing her generation.
1
When and where is she arriving? She deserved a grand welcome.
17
@msf....in approx. 15 days
2
“By doing this it also shows how impossible it is today to live sustainable,” she said. “That, in order to travel with zero emissions, that we have to sail like this across the Atlantic Ocean.”
This is the single most important sentence in this article. And to be precise, she is not on a zero emissions journey. From the fiberglass hull to the rigging, the sailboat relies on nylon, plastic, polyester or other polymers. The carbon footprint to build that thing was substantial. The solar panels use petrochemical technology.
Big adventures like this call attention, for a single news cycle at least, to the problem and elevates simple citizens to hero status. But it is the daily transgressions of simple citizens that are savaging the Earth. Stop using paper plates and disposable cups, stop throwing away food, buy less short lifespan things or better yet just buy LESS. For pity sake bring a reusable bag to EVERY store, not just the grocery. Do you have to wait for the nanny government to pass laws charging for bags in order to make that simple switch?
Admire Greta for sure. Then pledge to look at your own life and clean up your own act.
30
It would help to have a goal for total carbon dioxide emissions. It seems from frozen gas bubbles that the levels of CO2 began rising in the 1850's. This was due to the early effects of the industrial revolution, the burning of coal. What was that amount of carbon dioxide production then, the amount that began to tip the balance upward? Is the ultimate goal something just below that as an annualized global production?
Please, scientists, give us a CO2 goal for the world, a budget we can begin planning around. Anything more than this will slow but never stop the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere. But what is that amount of annual production above which is the tipping point?
1
@Phaiaikia - It's not "annual production" that's the problem, it's accumulated total, now over 415 PPM. The scientists told the world decades ago that 400 PPM was a level we shouldn't cross. Well we have and it looks like we are on the way to much more, with the USA and others ignoring serious CO2 reductions & talking about clean coal, an oxymoron. BTW 415 PPM is higher level of C02 than the earth has seen in more than 3 million years. We may have already passed the 'tipping point' if the permafrost melts and releases billions of tons of methane, that will likely alter the earths climate for centuries to say nothing of melting most of Greenland & polar ice caps and raising ocean levels by dozens of meters.
5
@Phaiaikia Scientists have already given a CO2 goal for the world. The world is not listening.
6
It is brave for a self described introvert to embark on such a journey and to draw so much attention to herself, however she has a lot of adults supporting her and I’m sure it will be a pretty costly trip! But anything to draw attention to climate change which is a catastrophe waiting to happen and in some cases has already happened. Miss Thunberg has made some changes in her lifestyle to lend credence to her commitment to the cause of climate change and not just to draw attention to her teenaged self.
Good for her! Unfortunately it will not make much difference in this world at all where powers spend trillions of dollars to manufacture weapons who pollute and destroy the environment all over the planet for the purpose of claiming superiority over each other.
7
I wonder how many more resources are used on her two week boating trip versus taking a seat on a flight that is already scheduled. The cost of the boat, the resources to build the boat, the people time to take the boat across the ocean,..? Perhaps she is concerned about the environment but perhaps she should consider all the resources she is using.
12
@DickH
You’re right Dick. I think she should swim across.
8
@DickH...what on Earth are you talking about !! ? That sailboat wasn't built for this trip ! it was lent to her for this venture by the owners and financing was put forth by members of the Rothschild family who believe in what she is doing ! Greta Thunberg and Cie are the best StartUp ever ! they are all sending a clear message...we need change or else.
9
@DickHThe boat was not built to sail Ms. Thunberg across the Atlantic.
8
Looks like a sailing junket for 5-6 people. Will they all be dumping their personal waste in the ocean?
6
@clarity007 That is way more natural than a chemical toilet.
2
@clarity007 - As do most all ocean going ships including your cruise ships.
4
@clarity007....yes. Not one boat that ever sailed the oceans ever brought the passenger's excrements to shore.
2
Remember when some critics coudn't see the moral value of Mother Theresa. Greta will be regarded for the visionary that she is at her young age. It's a welcome relief to what we have witness every day and week from our leader and his followers in the US. Hope when coupled with rational behaviour has led to the existence of our remarkable species despite its excesses.
14
That's a sweet gesture but utterly pointless. Our civilization is toast. We simply cannot afford to live this way any longer. Our time is up.
We really need to completely revise the way that we live. Basically, it's all or nothing. You can't have one portion of the world living sustainably, and the other doing whatever it wants.
The sooner that our civilization collapses, the better our chances of survival become. It's silly to think that we can 'rescue' this culture.
We need to live nearly identically to the Native Americans. We also need to reduce the human population to pre-industrial levels voluntarily (by eliminating reproduction.)
We can keep our knowledge and our technology if we act immediately, otherwise Nature will force our hand and complete chaos will ensue.
I would rather not see a nuclear apocalypse and 'armaggedon' but we are essentially making that scenario unavoidable by attempting to keep this paradigm going.
We should have the collective sense to see the forest for the trees. But, I am afraid that we got to this place for a reason: we are an ignorant and childish culture and we simply don't posses the collective wisdom to survive as a civilization. Thus, we have doomed ourselves.
Sad.
12
@dad
Agree. The population growth needs to be halted.
7
@dad "The sooner that our civilization collapses, the better our chances of survival become. It's silly to think that we can 'rescue' this culture."
Hopefully, the message here is to rescue ourselves, as in knowing ourselves. This is the missing piece to the grand puzzle. Humankind do not know the beauty, joy and brilliance existing within the heart - plenty enough to allay the greed devastating the earth.
It is the huge cosmic joke - that the answer to this mess is always present and always has been. It is the remaining frontier to be discovered, now or never.
Check out what moves each breath. It will feel like home because it is.
Making a childish spectacle out of a serious matter. It’s not Greta’s fault though, but she will come to realize when she grows up, how she has been used big media as an alibi to do nothing about climate change while caving in to politicians and corporation.
7
Fiber Glass boats have become an environmental catastrophe here in the Northwest. They are classed an environmental hazard at end of life and you have to pay to dispose of them. However most do not pay and just dump the boat and trailer on neighborhood streets for someone else to dispose of. I think we should add a 15% charge to the sale of all plastic boats for disposal processing and fees.
10
@Astralnut
That seems fair. For many many products, we do not pay the full cost through the end of their usefulness.
11
You go Greta. If only more people young and old stood up and said "no" to the mindless greedy multitudes who continue to trash our collective home, then we might have a chance for ourselves and the generations who would follow. Thank you Greta, you are my hero!
22
The idea that someone this young really understands enough about Science and the Climate to be a voice that should be listened to is rather ridiculous isn't it? She can only parrot things other people have already argued, she cannot postulate her own because she lacks an understanding of the Math and Science required to be able to do that. The stunt of travelling by 'fast sailboat' is proof beyond all doubt. You could consult a magic 8 ball and get a better answer to how to solve Climate Change.
8
Greta Is a hero. She walks the walk. She stands before industrial titans and warns them of this coming catastrophe. If every one of us did something today to reduce our fossil fuel ⛽️ use it would help. Let’s show Greta we care. Walk to the grocery store. Plan to leave the car parked for the weekend. And if you do travel by plane for vacation, purchase carbon offset of equivalent or better value. We love you Greta. Safe travels.
23
I'm glad the NYT is giving this story the space it deserves. I know countless people who call themselves environmentalists but who hop on a plane on a whim. They talk solutions but they're part of the problem. I fly as little as possible and yet I fly too much.
30
Dear Greta is sailing on a multi-million dollar racing sailboat custom-built for the ruling family of Monaco.
The construction (and conspicuous consumption) of building such a vessel created far more CO2 emissions than any single passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight.
The disconnect from reality involved in this stunt (both on part of Greta and the Prince of Monaco) is stunning.
20
@Kip Hansen
But it is making thousands of people think about the carbon emissions of aviation. That seems like a good result. Indeed, an inspiring connect with reality in my view.
15
@Kip Hansen - The ship was not built just for her trip, it already existed, she is making a statement.
8
Ms. Thunberg has created a beautiful story for all of us. It’s about a person’s courage to confront an enormous challenge in the face of the threat of personal danger.
When she arrives, she will speak. Her words will carry more weight. More people will decide to act.
I love Greta Thunberg’s conviction. We all need a little bit, or maybe a lot, of her courage.
36
This week, Steve Milloy, a former member of the Trump transition team, described her on Twitter as “the ignorant teenage climate puppet.”
All that these silly yet dangerous guys know how to do is talk and destroy.
30
Seems like a silly publicity stunt and irritating value signaling.
Between two and three thousand planes cross the Atlantic each day, whether or not Ms. Thunberg sails across the ocean. Catching a ride on any of one of those planes already making the voyage would increase humanity's carbon footprint exactly 0.000000%.
16
@JSD if she wants to do it, more power to her. Beats sitting behind a keyboard in an overcrowded city complaining about teenagers.
18
@TRS
Isn't there something incongruous about asking people to take a teenager seriously as a participant in an important adult conversation, but then attacking adults who disagree with her or her tactics as beating up on some defenseless teenager?
2
Bravo to Ms Thunberg and her crew for reminding us elders that we are leaving a world in a polluted and dangerous state.
The UN conference will help to inform the world, with the exception of the president and his followers. I think of this administration as acting criminally to deny the science of climate change. They are lemmings and wildebeests not able to change direction. They generate "fake news" not facts.
17
I love what Greta is doing. Go Greta! And sailing across the Atlantic captures the world's imagination while dramatizing an important point about the carbon footprint of air travel. But a strong argument could be made that Greta is losing an opportunity to highlight for the world that air travelers can purchase carbon offsets for their air travel through a variety of programs. By sailing to the UN meeting Greta may be inadvertently communicating to average folks the impracticality of traveling with little or no carbon footprint. I can hear people saying, "Oh great, now they want us to sail everywhere to save the planet." Instead of, "Oh! I didn't know I could reduce my carbon footprint for the flights I take. I'm going to look into the carbon offset programs that Greta uses."
21
A two-week vacation at sea. Sounds like fun, if you're not prone to seasickness.
But she appears to be nuts, in several senses. A slowly warming climate isn't going to kill us. It will lengthen the growing season in places like Sweden.
Too many people are looking for a cause to give meaning to their lives. Good, bad or indifferent; psychologically it doesn't matter, and they don't ask questions.
4
@Jonathan Katz
"A slowly warming climate isn't going to kill us."
Tell that to the residents of island nations and low-lying countries such as Maldives and Bangladesh being made, as we speak, uninhabitable by sea level rise. Tell that to the millions of refugees from those countries needing to emigrate to the diminishing number of countries willing to accept them. Tell that to those same emigres as they endure bigotry and violence in their newly adopted countries because of rising immigrant resentment manufactured by demagogues for political gain. And massive refugee issues is just one facet of how climate change will alter your world.
Climate change is a really big deal.
35
@Jonathan Katz. Tell that to two or three generations down the road. It sure is re-assuring not to worry about climate change and the degradation of oceans and wildlife because it's probably not gonna kill you...
19
@Jonathan Katz The change in diseases spread by mosquitoes alone absolutely will kill people, let alone the spread of diseases like cholera. She's not the one who sounds nuts. Read a book.
5
The article makes it sound early on that it is a solo voyage. Further on I realized that a crew was involved as well. The Atlantic is no place for a 16 year old inexperienced solo sailor, particularly on boat that size. A "bucket" at the stern, a water maker? Bean Bags to sleep on, give me a break. Let's see. Apart from 350,000 miles in the Dutch Merchant Marine and 8000-9000 miles under sail, sometimes under the most horrendous conditions, this article should not only have been edited by an experienced sailor, an experienced sailor should have been in charge of planning and outfitting.
" Goeje Vaart " Nevertheless.
2
@Stefan Piet says he's from Connecticut but he's clearly Dutch and "spunk" means something very different to the Europeans.
@Piet hein: you had to read the article for full context? What a concept.
As reported over half of the children in the UK don’t even know what a bumblebee is plus various plants like bluebells if they don’t know what these look like how can they solve a crisis in the environment. As a child I grew up in the countryside and it’s not all fluffy lambs and flowers nature can be quite vicious also unfortunately the city children haven’t got a clue but they will be in for a rude awakening one day. Children need to get out of concrete jungles and get into the countryside here in Germany parents encourage the children to go out and clean the countryside of plastic and other trash this is what Greta and her gang need to start doing instead of virtue signalling and running around cities for placards.
1
@Darren oh c'mon, a trip of a lifetime. She doesn't need to be dancing like the Sound of Music throughout the European countryside. Quit worrying about teenagers.
3
Greta has guts and a commitment that is to be applauded. Why don't Republicans care?
15
@RealTRUTH
Did you poll all Republicans and Democrats?
Greta Thunberg's voyage and life are a model for us all moving into a different future.
Naysayers, take pause and just listen and appreciate.
God bless you, Greta.
15
Some of you don't realize that Greta started her protest as a Friday event in front of the Swedish capital as a one girl activity. The fact that she has become more famous is entirely the actions of those who appreciated what she was doing. She is to be applauded not criticized.
Too many of the arguments here seem like the one about rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. Greta is telling us it is past time to get real and if we don't we will forfeit her future and those of all of our children.
60
Thank you Greta. To those of you who are looking for the flaws in her efforts please remember how young people during the 60's made change and spoke out to make a better world before we were wrapped up in a web of consumer indenture. The burden our society places on people to just survive means that either the young or the wealthy have the power and time to protest bad policy and raise consciousness, and the second group out of the two: fat chance.
28
I admire what Ms. Thunberg and other young people are doing to try to save us from ourselves, but the sad truth is that it's probably already too late.
7
While I support her causes, something doesn't feel quite right about the situation with Ms. Thunberg. She's a kid who seems like she's maybe being used. By whom I don't know: media, stage parents, climate activists, all of us. But she's a kid. I worry there may be mental health issues (already or as a result) with Ms. Thunberg and we're trying to make her some sort of prophet.
We're in a weird time, like after the last millennium. Apocalyptic voices everywhere. But maybe let the kid be a kid.
7
@keith
This is her being a kid. A beautiful kid. Not your version of a kid. No reason for you not to be an even more beautiful adult and let the beautiful kid inside you shine.
21
@keith Age is no measure of wisdom. Using it to discriminate and avoid engaging the subject is no different from racism, sexism and countless other forms of prejudice.
16
Youth and their dedication to positive action are our only hope.
I am with you in spirit and thought.
Safe passage Greta!
44
While I appreciate the effort to reduce carbon emissions and highlight the aviation industry, wouldn't it be easier, cheaper, safer and better for the environment to just use video conferencing.
It's an improvement from watching politicians jetting to climate conferences, but an activist charting a private yacht won't resonate with the average person.
We need real substantive discussion about changing our economic models and our ways of living and working, that takes into account and fairly distributes the real sacrifices that will be required.
5
@Andy Businesses once thought that video conferencing would replace travel, only to find that face-to-face meetings are innately human and irreplaceable.
7
@Andy--I wondered the same thing. In fact, I'm surprised that video conferencing isn't being used more around the world. Ms. Thunberg would have an even bigger impact, I think, if she refused to travel at all for the conference. Even as green as her boat will be, she'll still use many resources once she arrives in the U.S. She'll be riding in cars, staying in hotels, etc. How much better to just connect to the conference without using many resources at all.
3
@Andy The digital World has a HUGE carbon foot print. Please be inspired by someone trying to save your future. The average person can certainly be inspired by Greta and others. I am forgoing airtravel domestically and outfitting my car with a bed and storage for making longer trips...see America from the ground!
Go Greta, Go !! You are an inspiration.
11
She was here in Lausanne last week organizing the next steps for a “green” foundation. I hope Americans will listen to her not as some media star quickly gobbled up but as a young responsible girl thinking of her generation’s future.
60
Wow! So inspirational for this day and age!
Go Greta!
24
Trevlig resa, Greta. Bon voyage.
19
Safe travels Greta. The planet is counting on you!
16
Her activism is admirable, especially regarding our mindless addiction to jet travel, but she chose pretty much the most uncomfortable boat possible.
As somebody else noted, booking passage on a commercial vessel would have been a much smarter choice. And it still would have attracted the media’s attention.
2
A commercial vessel consumes large amounts of fossil fuel. She would have undercut her message. Travel fueled by solar and wind-powered energy is in its infancy; in the world Greta Thunberg is promoting it will advance in efficiency and amiability.
11
Greta, you are my heroine. God's speed. Ray Wood
26
I guess she doesn’t realize that fiberglass, the material from which the boat is made, is petroleum based. This is a pure stunt. A single flight across the Atlantic will have no meaningful impact on anyone or anything.
11
@DRS I don't think that is the point she is trying to make with this particular trip. She said this is impractical. That she is doing it this way to show the difficulties to be 'sustainable' in today's world.
10
@DRS
I don't think it makes sense to attack the young lady for every carbon atom that leaves her lung supplemented with two oxygen atoms.
Not every radical position is just nonsense because it becomes completely nonsensical in its pointed form.
The logic that lies in the public persona of Greta Thunberg is, in my opinion, problematic in a deeper way.
From a scientific or political point of view, the young lady has nothing to contribute to the debate on climate protection that has not long been formulated by adults.
By assigning her (a minor, psychologically, räuspern, extra talented person) the role of proclaiming "the truth", her statements are at the same time excluded from the critical political and scientific discourse and the young woman who proclaims them is brought into a position that corresponds to the saint or the martyr. As is well known, these are people who proclaim "the truth" beyond any human controversy.
Let's see if Greta lands in as many ports as the apostle Paul or if she is swallowed and spat out againlike the prophet Jonah by a whale on the Atlantic Ocean .
4
@DRS WOW, talk about someone that doesn't get it. Amazing.
Go Greta, Go !! You are an inspiration and are waking up many many.
Much more to do. See you in Chile if I can get there 'carbon free'.
15
We have already changed the climate of our planet. The seas are going to rise and the weather will get worse. It's now a question of degree---but the faster we move, the less carnage there will be. This 16 year old knows that, has the vision and compassion to understand the change that is coming---but still wants to do everything she can to lessen that carnage. That is inspiring to this 71 year old.
58
Oh you bitter people. A 16 year old girl, who is scared of her future because of the climate, has taken up the cause. Nowhere in the article did she accuse you of polluting the sky with airplane emissions or anything else you do to pollute the environment. She's doing what she can to ensure her future is better. Your comments to put her down...why? "Oh, I wonder who is funding her?" "Oh, that fiberglass has a big carbon footprint." She's a 16 year old trying to make a better world for herself and her generation. You know what I was doing when I was 16? I was wondering where i could money to get a bus ticket to the mall.
206
@SWolp Thank you. My sentiments exactly.
21
@SWolp
Please find an English translation of the article in The European about the commercial background of the Greta Thunberg lobby and their goal to make money with a world-wide internet platform modelled on Trip Advisor. Also, read about the wonderful timing of her mother in producing a family biography in English for publication the first day that Greta carried her sign in front of the Swedish parliament.
None of this deducts from the correctness of the need to jolt the "world leaders" into the reality of climate change, nor is it meant to challenge Greta's personal sincerity. Just remember to watch the little man behind the green curtain.
5
I have so much admiration for Greta for taking the time out of her life to speak for her generation. She is trying to wake up the leaders of the world who are "acting like children" instead of actually being leaders and working towards solutions as the planet is being destroyed by the selfish.
I am living on a sailboat about half of the year. We are mostly solar powered and live frugally. Greta will have some eye opening moments sailing across the Atlantic. Sailing brings you close to nature and puts you intimately in touch with the weather. I have seen and experienced the changes our climate has gone through in the last 30 years.
I pick up trash and plastics from almost every beach we land on now. It's sad there are more plastics on many beaches than seashells now.
Thank you Greta for your leadership for your generation. I hope it's not too late already.
May you have a safe trip with fair winds and following seas.
70
Extremely important issue. Extremely dumb symbolism. I'm glad Ms. Thunberg lent her voice to the problem of climate change, but she is a nobody from a non-entity journeying in a style that underscores how few people can afford (in money and in time) to emulate her. The slogan sweathshirt also bares the inherent contradictions of politicized consumption. If for any reason this voyage should fail--equipment breakdown, poor communication, inertial resistance to enforceable reductions--the whole endeavor will be dismissed as pointless spectacle. The more environmentalists engage in symbolic acts, the more they expose themselves as marginal and impotent political actors, utterly dependent on support by people in actual power who are being pushed and pulled in many additional directions by forces that remain far more powerful in domestic and global politics, not the least of which is the age old problem that economies matter more in democratic societies.
12
I applaud Ms. Thunberg's efforts to bring attention to the climate crisis. But is anyone in our political establishment listening?
The science data is clear. Climate disruption is not just a future event. It's already here.
The number one issue that we must have action on now is reduction in greenhouse gas. Instead Trump opens up more federal land for fracking, abandons fuel efficiency guidelines and removes even our modest limits on coal plant emissions.
The Democrats need to run on this issue and need to point out the costs of either continuing Trump's policies or doing nothing.
They should tell voters that we will have to spend billions of their tax dollars on storm relief, and not just from hurricanes. Climate disruption means radical and often sudden shifts in normal weather patterns.
It could mean extreme rainfall, which we've had in the midwest, extreme cold snaps, and of course continuing drought throughout the southwest.
Each of these events will get worse as we do little or nothing about greenhouse emissions.
Americans hate to pay taxes, but we are basically being taxed for relief programs so that oil companies can continue their record profits. The public bears the cost while the private stock holders reap the profits.
20
Greta is 16. Her physical presence at the UN will be important. Video conferencing might be a better carbon off-print, but her presence is going to make far more of an impact. Human to human contact will make a difference. She will be able to meet individuals, shake their hands, see their faces, sit with them or eat with them. It isn’t just about a speech or a phone call! Video conferencing separates her physically. And just like when you finally see your friend who lives a thousand miles away in the flesh, their presence brings their reality to bear.
45
Having grown up on sailboats as a kid, I can only imagine how this will motivate her even more for her cause. Sailing is one of the most humbling, eye opening, nature observing you can do. Especially crossing the Atlantic, which is a very ling distance, with a lot of weather changes. Good on her. Greta will most surely be in history books as the canary in the already collapsing coal mine. I just hope that boomers will have enough respects for her generation to do something about it.
161
@David
In my area, it’s boomers that bring their own bags to the grocery store--not millenials. An observation, not data, so I’m open to hearing otherwise.
11
@David Boomers did not cause this problem and while it grates me a little to have you place blame, placing it in the wrong place will hinder fixing the problems. This is a problem of capitalism, patriarchy and a monopoly on energy markets/technology. Most boomers went to school/work/had families. As innocent as the millennials and twice as concerned for change.
8
@David
Who could possibly imagine that Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old high school student could have risen to become a spokesperson for the environmental movement?
Is she the green Joan of Arc? I don’t think so.
Is she, as a recent NYT article suggested, “a world political leader?” Hardly.
Consider the fact that her father, an actor, and her mother, an opera and cabaret singer, have co-authored a book dealing with environmentalism and sustainability. In making her speeches Ms. Thunberg reads from scripts undoubtedly prepared by her parents and perhaps others, in tones and with dramatic pauses and emphases undoubtedly coached by her parents. (Lots of her speeches are on YouTube so you can check this out for yourselves.)
How can I believe that Ms. Thunberg is not an enviro savant? When I was in high school, a year older than Ms. Thunberg, I was on the school’s debate/speech team, which competed successfully throughout Southern California. We were endlessly coached on language and presentation; the only time I scored poorly is when I ran up against a brilliant speaker/performer who was coached by—guess who—a prominent Hollywood acting coach.
Someone is paying for her travels, public relations and related services; it would be of interest to know who.
Perhaps someone believes the words of a child will be somehow more persuasive than science, since scientists are still far from being able to predict, much less control, weather and climate phenomena.
1
I appreciate the NYT and their climate coverage. But I find it contradictory and ironic that while The Times is highlighting these issues, in the next column over there's the 52 places to travel. Greta stands out because her actions match her advocacy and genuine concern.
46
Kudos to Thunberg for highlighting the overwhelming emissions of jets, which has been largely ignored, until recently, in discussions of global warming. The world is addicted to same-day travel, and overnight delivery, but the cost of 102,000 flights every day, on average, is huge. Each time you fly to that inessential business meeting that could have been handled by phone, or each time you click that overnight delivery option from your favorite shopping website, you are contributing to the climate catastrophe that awaits us all in 2040 unless we start making changes to the way we operate, giving up some, if not all, of the conveniences that are taken for granted.
37
A) It’s important to reduce carbon emissions all around.
B) That boat was made using a whole lot of oil derived products. About half of all of the oil that gets extracted doesn’t get burned. It gets sold to chemical companies to get turned into everything from paint to plastics to cosmetic products.
C) The hidden carbon footprint of that boat is big. It’s smaller than an airplane or a car, for sure, but we REALLY need to focus our attention on the industrial extraction of oil. One rig can generate a million tons of GHGs. Since fusion is still a lifetime away, and combustion transportation & energy generation isn’t going away anytime soon, what we really need is to focus on the derivation of biofuels and bio-petroleum products on a multi-national industrial scale.
7
As much as I admire her activism, maybe video-conferencing in rather than using a super expensive racing yacht that's not available to the average person would have sent a better message. Was the message 'flight shaming' or carbon footprint, as her voyage to the US seems to focus the message more on flying? As an Australian, who also gets really bad motion sickness, there is no way I'm giving up flying, but that doesn't mean that I don't try and reduce my carbon footprint in other ways, including using the rail network when in Europe.
9
To the point: Ms. Thunberg is absolutely right to sail. Plane trips are from now on unconscionable, given their environmental impact. Not even vacations folks. It is time to batten down and face the facts on a personal level.
94
amazing!!!
4
These people are woke!
7
Shades of Pete Seeger!
12
How is Greta going to get to Chile for the next meeting? Sailboat? And then home to Sweden? Oy! She'll be a well-seasoned yachtie with all that boating.
7
@Steve Schwartz I would imagine she’ll get to Chile by train. It’s has to be possible. As for the return journey to Europe, she’s says she hasn’t figured that out yet. My guess is doesn’t want to commit to going back by sailboat until after she’s experienced it one time.
5
Do I need to point out that Mr. Milloy never has been and never will be invited to speak at a meeting of the United Nations?
14
Bon voyage Greta!
8
Good for her. She's living her politics.
I would sooner listen to Greta and those like her who actually live their convictions than the sanctimonious governing class flying on their private jets from one of their enormous houses to give speeches in posh resorts. Good for you Greta.
50
Instead of all this nonsense of a solar-equipped, blah-blah, she could just have easily booked a room onboard a passenger vessel (they DO still cross the Atlantic), AND she could've got a room onboard a non-tourist boat for a lot less.
But, this is ONLY partly about our climate; it's also about getting this 'wunderkind' (attention-seeker) getting her press attention.
11
@U.N. Owen
Cruise ships run on combustion of heavy fuel oil, and produce very toxic emissions, so they are no solution.
12
Bless this wonderful young woman for calling attention to the global crisis that the president can't seem to understand!!
23
Greta has solved climate change! Henceforth, I will tell my children that if they want to speak overseas regarding any issue, they need only hire a yacht with a captain, sleeping space for them and a family member (choosing me, I hope!), and sail to wherever we need to go.
Reversing climate change once seemed so complicated. Now, it's simple.
11
@Shawn
Well then, it’s a good thing Greta solved the Climate Change problem, don’t you think?
Otherwise the world your children will live in would be quite different than what we see now.
I could say it doesn’t matter to me either way as I’ll be dead or well enough along the way by the time the real effects hit.
I could say it doesn’t matter, but it does. And that is regardless of whether I live an exceptionally long life or drop off the day after tomorrow.
Despite being a conscientious recycler, light turner-offer, thermostat lowerer all my years (Depression Era parents helped there), this young woman has inspired me to look to how I can improve my efforts. There’s still much I can do, easily no less.
Thanks Greta for the inspiration.
30
Just thinking out loud, but could someone design a keel and centerboard made out of batteries? Made even sails that are super thin flexible solar panels which might not be the best placement and an entire deck that is solar, so the emergency motor could be electric. Right up Elon's alley.
When Dubya was running for President, I took my daughters to a meeting of local Dems who go the idea to protest. Dozens promised to show up. I made the signs because I had what was needed.
Out of 32 adults who promised to show up, 2 did. My daughter just talking to friends and their friends showed up with 23 people all ten and under.
A police Captain came up and pointed out it was not legal (some number had been exceeded) my daughter who had listened to me 'beat up' verbally a few officials and people in authority in large corporations, first asked him How he thought He and the Police would look arresting children or even stopping them and then asked if the law was for adults?
You could see the calculations in his brain, he smiled that she had given him an out and said, "You go ahead, young lady. Please be careful and don't stop any of the cars yourself."
He then turned to me and said, "You have a terrifyingly smart daughter."
This young lady and how deeply she thinks about this even to the point of not flying, is stunningly impressive.
Hats off to you.
28
To answer your questions: Batteries are installed in the hull, as low as possible. Battery technology has trended towards lighter weight as well as higher energy density. Keels are heavy, usually lead, and designed for hydrodynamics and righting moment.
Photovoltaic sails are being developed, but have a long way to go before they are practical. They'll be marketed to cruising sailors. Light weight and low stretch are the overriding objectives for racing sails.
On topic: teenage (and younger) kids on long offshore passages is not novel. A few teens have even circumnavigated the earth, solo. By 16, they can stand watch day and night, and participate as full-fledged crew. A transatlantic crossing is no big deal, except for the kid and their families.
1
Sigh....it’s just such a fruitless hopeless gesture. The climate debate has become truly unhinged from reality. There are no adults in the room, so I guess it makes sense that teenagers are taking leading roles. A totally unserious debate here. Pure drama and virtue signaling.
Does anyone know or care that the Paris Accords would do ZERO for the climate disaster they keep warning us about? Google it.
12
Love you Greta. Thank you for your leadership and courage. You are inspiring me, a 50 year old Mom to speak up and try to figure out how I can help. It is interesting how those of us who firmly believe in catastrophic climate change are nevertheless afraid to come out and speak about it. Afraid of being branded as fanatics, crazies, people preaching doom. The world is on fire and yet we are cowed by the deniers into silence. So thank you for being brave in the face of bullies.
141
@Suchi Patton
Indeed! Whenever I bring up climate change--or what we can do as individuals--I am met with accusations of being “depressing”, or worse, irrelevant because, “there’s nothing we can do” or “I try to recycle, what more do you want?”
I agree with them--it IS depressing.
9
@Suchi Patton . Well said Suchi. Greta delivers the message in a way that resonated with me, a 57 year old mom of four, as none ever had before. When she said "our house is on fire - act like it" we listened to her. We have changed the way we live in real and meaningful ways. We bought a fully electric car because we believed we couldn't afford not to for the sake of our world. We have drastically cut our meat consumption and shop in a mindful ways like we never did before. ie, do we really need this item? Is this produce local? Where was this item made? Can we make use opf something we already have at home? These are questions we never really asked before. I have begun volunteering with an environmental organization around the plastic pollution problem, which I firmly believe is highly related to the climate crisis. Even still I know this is not enough. Individual actions can make a difference but we are desperately in need of leadership from the top down. Here is hoping world leaders receive the message.
7
@Suchi Patton I work at a school and I wrote my principal asking if they would do something - anything - about climate. I had suggestions such as better recycling, reducing food wastee composting, field trips to state parks, make sure books on climate change are in the library etc. I also said that teachers and students might have more suggestions.... I never heard back. So disappointing. I guess some people are afraid to acknowledge what we are facing. But I was hoping an educator would. Sad.
7
I understand the point she wants to make, but this is hardly a viable solution for the masses. Video conferencing anyone?!
10
@someone over 50
The masses can stay home.
Such focus, integrity, and grit.
12
Many of us are rooting for her and behind her, particularly those of us with children who care about their futures. We probably need a global government to tackle the problem of climate change with a wise leader. At this point, Ms. Thunberg, as young as she is, might be best qualified to lead such an orgnization.
15
I am proud to be living on the same planet as this young woman. We look to the elderly for wisdom, but it is the young who will save the world.
23
I wish her safe travels, and much luck. Very much luck.
17
I'm sympathetic to the cause but it sure does help that she has been assisted by rich people who an afford to give her a ride. The symbolism is hollow for me. And how is she getting back?
10
@Eric
We all live on the same planet.
We all need to give, and accept, assistance from one another, rich or poor, liberal or conservative, native or immigrant, if we are to make it through the next half century with something vaguely resembling a civil society.
What would you suggest she do? Swim? Sit in the dark in a hut somewhere and protest to herself?
I have no time for this counter argument that to use any technology is to discredit any suggestion that our technological world needs to become more resilient and sustainable.
I suspect you are not really very "sympathetic" to her cause at all.
As for how she is getting back? I would suspect, roughly, the same way.
16
What is this show that is costing a fortune supposed to prove ? Most people know very well what they could do on a personal level to help the environment. Renting a sailboat to cross the Atlantic is not one of them. Most overnight trains that used to allow us to travel across Europe very efficiently have been suppressed which makes it now complicated even inside the European continent to avoid taking planes.
11
Thank you Greta for your example. I wish some seemingly climate-conscious adults would think twice before taking their 3rd airline vacation this year.
24
Good for Greta. I see her as a young ambassador fighting for the survival of this very planet. Although she has taken a year off school, I am very heartened by the fact that she has packed plenty of books for her journey. Would that our own president could read books instead of constantly tweeting and denying the reality of climate change. We need more people like Greta, both young and old, to stand up to the reality of climate change and work to save our beautiful planet.
34
Wish her fair winds and good luck. Boomers won't be around to see what mankind does to reverse the damage its done to the planet in the spec of geological time it has been on earth. Boomers can remember a better environment, less people, a slower life. I am not hopeful, thinking it was not meant to be that man should survive simply because evolution gave some us the brainpower to see the problem but many more who do not care and keep reproducing and consuming which is more line with evolution's random selection machine, needing bodies to carry genes regardless of brain power. Our ancestors never got to see how the future turned out and whether all the bloodshed made the world better. It did not end the misery and bloodshed, though we have had fewer wars yet many more killed in the 20th century and live under the threat of nuclear annihilation. Existence seems like some kind of a cosmic experiment into which we are tossed without consent.
12
It’s interesting to see her in a plastic boat and plastic clothes. She also discusses all her high tech gear. All those things have huge carbon footprints. Sure, she is pointing out the carbon cost of air travel, but she also needs to look closer at everything that is consumed in society, especially personal consumption.
15
@nwsnowboarder
How do you know what her clothes are made out of? As for the boat we don't know either -- it could have been made from recycled plastic.
Even if her clothes, the boat etc. are as you say, it is obvious that Greta looks closely at what society consumes. She states “by doing this it also shows how impossible it is today to live sustainable”.
11
@SarahI am a former sailing yacht dealer. Sailboats cannot be made from recycled plastic.
3
@nwsnowboarder Even if it is plastic, its being used again and again whereas jet fuel gets spent once into the air it goes.
7
... and the carbon footprint of the sailboat with Dacron sails, fiberglass hull, etc. compared to the plane is?
16
You can nitpick but the broader point is that she is trying to increase awareness, which, with any luck, might lead to policy changes. Which of course is what we need
29
The boat, an IMOCA 60, uses neither Dacron, nor fiberglass. According to the racing team’s website: “The leading French sailing magazine Voiles et Voiliers has recently asked the heads of Multiplast boatyard and CDK Technologies about the environmental impact when building an IMOCA 60. To build this type of race boat, 3 tons of carbon fibre, moulds for hull and deck, a number of construction materials and various resins (baked at 120° during the construction process) are needed. Both boatyards are well aware of the resulting and indisputable environmental impact during boat construction and therefore attach great importance on a sustainable building process: Moulds are built with recycled dry carbon fibre and reused for building the hulls and decks of several new boats – not just one, old carbon fibre material is turned into powder and reused in resins for further construction, all sorts of construction materials are recycled and reused on new boats, in addition to continually pursuing sustainable developments in the boat building domain, notably the use of natural fibres. In the end, once constructed, an IMOCA works with the wind, reducing its carbon footprint with every mile sailed.”
31
@Joe McDaniel
And I'd like to add that her goal was to travel with as close to zero carbon output as she could get.
11
Greta Thunberg will be written into the history books along side Ghandi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Harriet Tubman. Her courage and tenacity to address climate change will affect every one of our lives and the lives of others for hundreds of years to come. Smooth sailing Greta!
51
She is the poster child for the theme of Quiet. Read this book if you think that extroverts are the mover and shakers so you can change your mind. I wish great success for this exceptional person.
64
I have looked in vain to find ship passenger accommodations to cross the Atlantic. The choices are few and expensive. It’s a choice between giant cruise ships or prohibitively expensive smaller boats that are for the yachting class. More affordable passenger accommodations should be encouraged, I see that they do wonders with making shipping containers into living spaces on land, why not on the sea as well? The same principle applies to railroad travel in North America. Why not encourage every freight train to have at least one or two passenger cars?
37
@Tony If you get plugged into the yachting world a bit you can get free rides as a crewman on yachts making the crossing, even get paid on professional deliveries. It won't on your schedule though.
6
@tony
My guess is folks will not want to waste time traveling to a destination. Train travel can offer a chance to see the country.
2
Sacrifices. Taking a year off of school. Sailing instead of flying. School strikes. These are all small, on the grand facts of the Climate Crisis, but they are essential. Every important change in this modern world began with small sacrifices. From marching when one's husband forbade it, to Victory Gardens, to sitting at a Woolworth diner - these actions were tremendous to the individual, and small, essential, sacrifices to the collective action taken place.
May we all think about the small sacrifices we need to make for the Climate Crisis that will cause our fellow humans to think about what steps they must take.
97
@Sam Right, what kid would want to get praise for skipping school then get to cruise the Atlantic on the world's coolest sailboat and meet world leaders instead of grinding through Algebra II?
1
Why not a child? She is asking all the right questions. We have the means to bring ourselves back from the precipice if only there were wise enough leaders and policy makers. Go Greta. I hope the journey is safe.
134
Greta Thunberg is brave and visionary. She has done more than anyone in Europe to raise awareness of the immediate threat of climate change. I hope Americans will engage with her message. The only ‘child-like’ thing about her is her clarity and truth.
153
@Mark Ellingham
Ridiculous comment. She is a pawn of her parents and has little thought of her own on the topic. This represents just another leftist approach to using children to propagandize what should be an adult debate. This is jibberish from Europe, a failing project to say the least.
Before this event, how many of us have even considered the impact of our air travel on the environment. So easy,so casual, so damaging. Call it what you will, Greta’s great adventure will make us think, and even change the behaviour of some for the good.
I worry for this strong young woman, the sharks she faces are not of the nautical variety.
139
@Peter McAuslan
I researched traveling to Europe without flying for months and came up with only very expensive cruise-type ships that use lots of fuel and charge premiums for “solo” travel. It’s alternatives that are lacking--the same with plastic. There are any number of everyday items not available (not readily or cost effectively anyway) in non-plastic form anymore. I’ve noticed that powdered laundry detergent is disappearing in favor of plastic jugs, for example This is nothing more than intense marketing that has by now convinced at least one generation that plastic is better.
I admire Greta and though her voyage is mostly symbolic, I hope it will generate the type of stir we need to make it more than that.
Bon Voyage, Greta and crew!
9
@Peter McAuslan
I decided not to travel hy airplane years ago when I read about some climate scientists who stopped flying. I have felt very good about my decision. Any reasons to fly, when we have video conferencing, does not come close to imminent climate catastrophe.
7
@Peter McAuslan We all have our different wake-up moments re: climate. Some of us have multiple wake-up moments. I stopped flying overseas when I saw An Inconvenient Truth. I also started learning how to grow food. Because of Greta, I've been inspired to install a geothermal heating/cooling system in my house and get more active in actively protesting. I'm amazed at how few homes have geothermal. There are tax credits and low-interest loans available to finance it.
3
What is this about now? Greta who?
When we keep holding up these shallow, infantilized mascots for some type of social cause or another it just makes it easier for skeptics to patronize the issue and forget about it the next day. This isn’t real or meaningful.
12
@Slim It's still not too late for you to avoid being part of the ash heap of history.
13
"We're facing an immediate unprecedented crisis that has never been treated as a crisis and our leaders are all acting like children. We need to wake up and change everything." These are the words of a tenacious teenager. Godspeed, Greta.
210
@Theresa K
God has nothing to do with it. This is all on human
Greta may be doing the right thing, but it doesn't matter if she is the minority.
The reality is that we have too many humans, and we don't have a humane policy of limiting reproduction. I am 41 and I would love to be euthanized, if I could do so. Maybe, I will even force ny death regardless. But, how many people would follow in my footsteps? How many elderly people are willing to let go, in order to save their children?
Nobody in this country believes in reincarnation. So people all hold on for dear life until they, literally consume all the resources that should have been left for the youth. You can't be reincarnated on a lifeless Earth.
You either live simply, or we all die, and humanity goes extinct. Don't blame the messenger because you don't like the truth.
Just sayin'.
1
@dad
I am an atheist. "Godspeed" means good fortune or success, nothing more.
5
@Theresa K
Who could possibly imagine that Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old high school student could have risen to become a spokesperson for the environmental movement?
Is she the green Joan of Arc? I don’t think so.
Is she, as a recent NYT article suggested, “a world political leader?” Hardly.
Consider the fact that her father, an actor, and her mother, an opera and cabaret singer, have co-authored a book dealing with environmentalism and sustainability. In making her speeches Ms. Thunberg reads from scripts undoubtedly prepared by her parents and perhaps others, in tones and with dramatic pauses and emphases undoubtedly coached by her parents. (Lots of her speeches are on YouTube so you can check this out for yourselves.)
How can I believe that Ms. Thunberg is not an enviro savant? When I was in high school, a year older than Ms. Thunberg, I was on the school’s debate/speech team, which competed successfully throughout Southern California. We were endlessly coached on language and presentation; the only time I scored poorly is when I ran up against a brilliant speaker/performer who was coached by—guess who—a prominent Hollywood acting coach.
Someone is paying for her travels, public relations and related services; it would be of interest to know who.
Perhaps someone believes the words of a child will be somehow more persuasive than science, since scientists are still far from being able to predict, much less control, weather and climate phenomena.
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Hurray for Greta! We are all indebted to her creative efforts to communicate truth.
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@Lascaux
Can you handle the full truth and nothing but the truth? You may want to sit down for this.
Greta may be doing the right thing, but it doesn't matter if she is the minority.
The reality is that we have too many humans, and we don't have a humane policy of limiting reproduction, and eliminating the elderly. I am 41 and I would love to be euthanized, if I could legally do so. Maybe soon, I will even force my death, regardless of the pain it might cause me. I want to leave this Earth before people get desperate and turn on each other. But, how many people would follow in my footsteps? How many elderly people are willing to let go, in order to save their children?
Nobody in this country believes in reincarnation. So people all hold on for dear life until they, literally, consume all the resources that should have been left for the youth. You can't be reincarnated on a lifeless Earth.
We either all live simply, or we all die, and humanity goes extinct. Don't blame the messenger because you don't like the very inconvenient truth.
Just sayin'.
This is theater. The embodied energy of that sailboat is vastly greater than the airplane trips it theoretically avoids.
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@Michael Bush the carbon footprint associated with this trip is the incremental carbon required to travel - comparatively very low. Here she’s taking an existing boat, so zero increase in footprint to build it. Now, if she built a new boat, that’s a different story
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@Will
No. Over it's lifetime, that boat will travel some relatively small number of miles. The relevant carbon footprint is an apportioned share of the total energy to make the boat, divided by the number of person-miles it eventually travels. That's a big number.
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@Michael Bush
Thank you for your comment. Agreed that that is the precise definition of carbon footprint. However, I believe that a little theatricality is what is needed most, especially coming from one who will be most effected by our lack of attention to climate change. As it is now, the causes and effects of climate change being debated by scientists are many and varied. But the vast majority of them agree that it is inevitable if we continue along our present course. So, why not a little theatricality to bring the message to a broader audience?
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Trying to focus the world leaders attention on climate change is on of the most important things we can do, and one of the most difficult with dolts like Denying Donald and Bolsinaro the Blind around. But I fear the hype behind "Greta" will cause a danger of the message being lost overboard. I, for one, found her story and commitment to be much more compelling when she was making a weekly statement by herself, sitting outside her parliament building as her sign of protest.
I also wonder who is financing her trip, her accommodations and other travel, her year off school, and her father apparently taking time off work to accompany her, for starters. I read that a documentary film maker is on board. I fear that her voice will be lost in the efforts to recoup the expended funds with the upcoming mega-blockbuster, "Greta the Great."
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@The Lone Protester - Wow, cynicism elevated to a fine art. Who cares who financed the trip? Whether it was one donor, hoping to make money on the documentary (query whether documentaries ever make money?) or thousands of small, individual supporters, this is news, and should be - the climate crisis is the existential threat of not only our lifetime but of our childrens and grandchildren. If this (grandstanding?) is what it takes to advance awareness and modify behavior, then I'm all for it. Godspeed to Greta and the crew of the Malizia II.
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@ Deborah S.
Please find an English translation of the article in The European about the commercial background of the Greta Thunberg lobby and their goal to make money with a world-wide internet platform modelled on Trip Advisor. Also, read about the wonderful timing of her mother in producing a family biography in English for publication the first day that Greta carried her sign in front of the Swedish parliament.
None of this deducts from the correctness of the need to jolt the "world leaders" into the reality of climate change, nor is it meant to challenge Greta's personal sincerity. Just remember to watch the little man behind the green curtain.
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Remember ocean liners? (I wonder about their carbon footprint now.) Crossing the Atlantic on the Cunard Line Samaria in 1955, I believe took about ten days. Now Cunard advertises seven night cruises across the Atlantic. (The QEII took 4-5 days.)
Clipper ships in the mid 19th C could apparently make it across the Atlantic in 14 days. The Grand Tour -- why not?
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faster ships sounds like a bigger carbon foot pront to me. maybe she could Skype in.
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@Auntie Mame The carbon footprint of ocean liners and cruise ships is comparable with or greater than that of planes. Sailing ships, mostly or entirely reliant on wind, are what people should return to for crossing oceans. Yes, it takes longer to sail (and wind can be fickle, seasickness can be a trial), but we have no choice but to step away from fossil fuel reliance. Alas, there aren't many clipper ships left--but there are ways that the average person can sail across the Atlantic. Walk the docks in Newport in the spring. It is then that most Mediterranean-bound yachts are leaving, and many are willing to hire, or take paying, additional crew. Wish to go the other way? Walk the docks in European ports in the fall, when many ships are heading to the Caribbean for the winter. And, of course, we can also "walk the docks" online now, too, as there are sailing forums where the ocean-going equivalent of rideboards surely exist. So: sail-hitching, until some enterprising folks dedicate more old schooners (and there still are a bunch, in various ports on the Eastern seaboard and in Europe) to use for Atlantic crossings. In the meantime, I wish Greta Thunberg and her fellow sailors safe passage.
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