Teen Climate Change Activist Greta Thunberg Gets Made Fun Of For Sailing On A Carbon-Neutral Racing Yacht Instead Of Flying

Legendary teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg is causing waves again. This time, literally. She is currently sailing from Plymouth in England to the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on a carbon-neutral, zero-emissions racing yacht. The trip should take about two weeks, so the schoolgirl hopes to make it in time for the climate change conference which starts on September 23.

The reason the 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl is traveling by sea is that she loves the environment so much, she refuses to fly on airplanes. This is just plain awesome. Unfortunately, some people don’t think so and lambasted her because they don’t agree with the message she’s sending. Some made fun of her because they think she just wants attention, while others think there’s nothing wrong with flying and rubbed their opinions in her face.

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Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg is ‘making a splash’ by sailing to New York from Plymouth, England

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“There’s always going to be people who don’t understand or accept the united science, and I will just ignore them as I’m only acting and communicating on the science,” Thunberg called out global warming deniers right before setting sail. 4 days after leaving Plymouth, she tweeted that she wasn’t feeling seasick yet and joked that being on the boat was like “camping on a roller coaster.”

Some people started making fun of the 16-year-old girl

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16-year-old Thunberg is sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on a 60-foot long (that’s 18 meters) yacht with three other people, among whom are her father Svante, and experienced captain Boris Herrmann. The yacht, called the Malizia II, is powered by sunlight and has underwater turbines. Ironically, this marvel of modern engineering lacks a toilet.

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Thunberg’s journey by boat was well-received by many environmentally-conscious individuals, However, there were some who called the teenager out. One Twitter user explained how she had “0%” guilt for booking “long haul flights” for her family. Another made fun of her getting on the cover of GQ magazine for telling people to “recycle jam jars.” Others still criticized Thunberg for pulling a stunt for media attention because, allegedly, a crew will have to fly to New York to sail the yacht back to England.

The teenager has drawn a lot of praise for her work from politicians. But she’s drawn a lot of ire as well. Especially recently. In July, she gave a speech at the French parliament, which was boycotted by some lawmakers who called her a “guru of the apocalypse”, a “prophetess in shorts” and the “Justin Bieber of ecology.” However, the teenager is used to ignoring criticism from climate change skeptics.

According to the UN, “the last four years were the four hottest on record, and winter temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990.” Furthermore, the UN warns that “sea levels are rising, coral reefs are dying, and we are starting to see the life-threatening impact of climate change on health, through air pollution, heatwaves and risks to food security.”

That makes me want to do more in the fight against climate change. If I could, I’d sail everywhere on a yacht. But for now, I’ll keep on recycling jam jars, walking instead of driving, hugging trees when nobody’s looking, and growing vegetables and herbs in my tiny garden. What about you? What are you doing to help the environment? Share your thoughts about Thunberg and climate change in the comments below.