What is climate change?
Climate change is when the Earth’s average weather patterns and temperatures shift over a long period. Instead of just a normal hot day or cold week, the whole planet is steadily warming up, which messes up our regular seasons and ecosystems.
What is causing climate change?
Climate change is mainly caused by humans burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for energy and transport. When these fuels burn, it causes combustion, which releases heaps of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases get trapped in the air, creating what scientists call the greenhouse effect. It works just like a real glass greenhouse, trapping the sun’s heat and making the whole planet warm up. Because of these rising global temperatures, the atmosphere holds more energy, which triggers extreme weather events like super strong hurricanes, floods, and droughts that destroy communities.
Why are we striking?
Since 2019, the School Strike 4 Climate movement has seen thousands of ākonga students all over Aotearoa and the world walks out of classrooms to protest. We are striking because we are terrified of the global and local consequences if adults keep ignoring science. Here in Aotearoa,we are already seeing worse sea level rise, severe flooding, and coastal erosion that threaten our beaches.
