Demanding an action for Climate change, thousands of students rallied the streets in Australia and other Asia-Pacific countries this morning, kicking off a global strike demanding world leaders to deal urgently with an environmental catastrophe.
The strike aimed at the leaders gathering for a UN Climate Action Summit in New York to discuss climate change mitigation strategies, such as transitioning to renewable energy sources from fossil fuels.
Students voiced their discontent and worrying thoughts in the signs they hold. One sign in Sydney read: "We didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it". Another in Melbourne read: "The oceans are rising and so are we".
Similar protests, inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, are planned in some 150 countries today. According to organizers on social media, the aim is for students and others from around the world to speak in one voice about the impending effects of climate change on the planet.
The strike will culminate in New York when Thunberg, who has been nominated for a Nobel prize for her climate activism, will spearhead a rally at home of the United Nations headquarters.
Images posted on social media sites noted huge turnout at protests in many cities across Australia.
In Sydney protesters were overflowing out of a 34-hectare (84-acre) open space in the city. Similar crowds were reported in Brisbane and other state capitals.
On another hand, Children in the Solomon Islands protested on the shoreline wearing traditional grass skirts and carrying wooden shields in solidarity with the global movement, Reuters reported.
In Thailand, more than 200 young people rallied at the environment ministry and dropped to the ground feigning death, as they demanded government action on climate change.
In Palangka Raya, in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province, youths carrying placards marched through heavy smog caused by nearby forest fires.
In the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, at the first of a series of protests, around 25 school children handed out flyers at busy bus terminals and held placards that read "Save Our Planet. Save Our World".
According to scientists, global warming caused by heat-trapping greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels has already led to droughts and heatwaves, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and floods.
Carbon emissions climbed a record high last year, while a U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that output of the gases must be slashed over the next 12 years to stabilise the climate.
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