On Friday, Sept. 20, right before countries will gather at the United Nations for the Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23, millions of people walked out of school and work to participate at climate strikes across the world to raise awareness to the global climate crisis.

Young individuals are organizing strikes in their own towns and communities around the world and asking anyone to come and support. There were 4,638 scheduled events in 139 different countries, including large cities like Berlin, London, Moscow, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles. If you still haven’t wrapped your head around how big these strikes turned out, in New York alone 1.1 million students were “allowed” to skip class in order to attend strikes around the city, according to the City’s Department of Education.

The most influential young activist involved in the strikes is 16 year-old Greta Thunberg. Thungberg has been drawing the attention of many people around the world due to her passion for raising awareness to the climate crisis. 

“You [the government] are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you,” Thunburg says at the UN Climate Action Summit.

Locally, Augustana University organized a strike on Sept. 20 from 10:30AM-12:00PM, right in the center of Augie’s campus. Many leaders at Augustana gave motivational speeches to a crowd of both students and adults about making changes now. Along with the multiple speeches there was an opportunity to converse with the many environmental influences throughout Sioux Falls.

Hopefully, through these global strikes, voices have been heard and global leaders will take action to combat climate crisis and stop the catastrophic effects for the future of mother earth. As we move forward, remember that everyone has a voice and the ability to make a change for future generations by being environmentally aware.