Before you do anything else, look at the best video on climate change, hosted by two teenagers, that we have yet seen…

Youth

YOUTH

Young people are helping solve our climate crisis. And the world is responding, however slowly!

Young people are doing everything in their power to help combat the climate emergency. They’re protesting in the streets, organizing beach clean ups, reducing their personal carbon footprints, signing petitions, planting trees, getting their schools to become zero waste, and even suing the federal government to protect their planet. Young people are front and center in the climate fight. 

To win this planetary battle, all of you need to get involved like these young heroes. You can start by educating yourselves, your friends and even your parents. If you have younger brothers and sisters, we have created just for kids for them. Check out our list of recommended organizationsbooks, and films to see how you can take action, whether it be In your home, your school, your community or through political action.  If you are writing a paper or giving a talk about some aspect of climate change, you might find some of the statistics in our “climate change by numbers” section useful.

In 2015, twenty one young people from all over America filed a lawsuit, the Juliana v. U.S. case, claiming that the government’s actions, and inaction, in the face of global warming violate their “fundamental constitutional rights to freedom from deprivation of life, liberty, and property.” We think you will find it fascinating to follow our timeline as it has wended its way through the courts.

In 2019, the Climate Strike, inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg when she was 16 years old, had over 1000 events in the US alone, and an estimated 4 million people showed up around the world. In January 2021, as President Biden prepared for his inauguration, Greta was discussing the future for climate change with the Dalai Lama.

In April, 2022, NPR published an essay in comic art form by Xiye Bastida, a young climate justice activist in New York City. The subject was “How young people are taking action against climate change.”

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CREDIT: ACESPACE

CURRENT NEWS

Biden’s new Climate Corps will train thousands of young people

By Maxine Joselow 09/20/23
President Biden on Wednesday announced an initiative to train more than 20,000 young people in skills crucial to combating climate change, such as installing solar panels, restoring coastal wetlands and retrofitting homes to be more…
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US ‘university’ spreads climate lies and receives millions from rightwing donors

By Peter Stone 09/06/23
A rightwing media outlet promoting climate-crisis denialism and other “anti-woke” staples to young students and adults via social media has become a fundraising Goliath, raking in close to $200m from 2018 to 2022 with big…
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Youth Activists Experience a Mental Toll From the Climate Crisis

By Bloomberg News 08/22/23
“I think so many of us have had to forfeit our youth because we feel an obligation to do this. A lot of us have missed out on things that others have had because we've…
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A new campus offering: Climate anxiety therapy

By Ta ' Leah Van Sistine 09/12/22
In early 2020, weeks before anxiety about another crisis roiled the globe, a small group of students gathered in a room at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for a counseling session on worry and grief…
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This 17-Year-Old Designed a Motor That Could Potentially Transform the Electric Car Industry

By Margaret Osborne 08/11/22
Robert Sansone is a natural born engineer. From animatronic hands to high-speed running boots and a go-kart that can reach speeds of more than 70 miles per hour, the Fort Pierce, Florida-based inventor estimates he’s…
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In a New Orleans ward ravaged by climate change, leaders nurture the next generation

By Dayana Sarkisova 08/04/22
Arriving at Bayou Bienvenue, Arthur Johnson swings closed the door of his pickup truck and wipes the sweat across his brow. “Says it feels like 108 today,” he murmurs.
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Summer camp teaches kids about climate solutions

By YCC Team 07/19/22
This week, a group of young people are attending an overnight camp in Nevada County, California. They’ll sleep in cabins and spend time outside. But instead of traditional camp activities, these kids will focus on…
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Young Voters Are Fed Up With Their (Much) Older Leaders

By Maya King and Others 07/14/22
Alexandra Chadwick went to the polls in 2020 with the single goal of ousting Donald J. Trump. A 22-year-old first-time voter, she saw Joseph R. Biden Jr. as more of a safeguard than an inspiring…
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Greening a home — and the next generation — in Wisconsin

By Kari Lydersen 07/14/22
Most students in Advanced Placement courses spend months focused on getting ready for the AP test, which can yield college credit in high school. The high school students participated in a range of community environmental…
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Young Activists Disrupt Bonn Climate Talks to Call for Plant Based Treaty

By Olivia Rosane 06/13/22
A group of young activists believe the answer is a global shift towards plant-based diets, and they are not afraid to make their voices heard. The campaigners disrupted a meeting at the UN climate talks…
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Becoming inconvenient: youth activists disrupting the status quo

By Abbie Malloy 06/06/22
For nearly all of history, society has revolved around making life convenient for those in power. We consume their products, run their companies, and live our lives in ways that keep them comfortable. It’s easy,…
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For Gen Z, Climate Change Is a Heavy Emotional Burden

By Richard Schiffman 04/28/22
People who have come of age in recent decades — millennials and members of Generation Z — have been exposed to a steady stream of alarming news about climate change and ecological destruction. And a…
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KEY RESOURCES

What are greenhouse gases?

06/06/22
Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere. The main greenhouse gases are:

NYT Climate Change Guide

10/01/21
A guide for kids, and everyone else, about climate change - and what we can do about it.

Explore Earth

06/04/21
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is America’s civil space program and the global leader in space exploration. The agency has a diverse workforce of just under 18,000 civil servants, and works with many more…

Bad Future, Better Future

04/18/21
If you’re a kid, almost every year you’ve been alive has broken a temperature record, or come close. You’ve witnessed huge wildfires, intense droughts and severe storms. This is what climate change looks like, and…

Climate Change is Our Generation’s Biggest Challenge

03/26/21
3 Million Students Educated on Climate Science, Impacts and Solutions    

Climate Curriculum | K-12 Science Lessons on Climate Change

02/17/21
A comprehensive curriculum that provides engaging and informative science lessons on Earth's changing climate.

Climate 101: Causes And Effects

02/06/20
Cool tech, experiments, and more!

How to Talk With Kids About Climate Change [2022 Guide]

06/16/22
It may not be the “birds and the bees” talk you were anticipating having with your kids. But the truth is, the birds and bees are dying, and children aren’t oblivious to the adverse effects…

Fridays for Future

04/30/20
#FridaysForFuture is a youth-led and -organised movement that began in August 2018, after 15-year-old Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks, to protest against…

MORE NEWS

7 Ways to Manage Climate Anxiety

By Linnea Harris   04/17/22  
Many people are already experiencing the effects of climate change. Eighty-five percent the global population has endured weather events made worse by rising temperatures, and more than 40% are highly vulnerable to climate change based…
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MCPS 2022 Youth Climate Summit

03/05/22  
COVID-19 Information: The safety of all summit participants is a top priority. In consideration of current conditions for physical and human resources, this event will move to a virtual format. The day and times will…
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Students at top universities file legal complaints to compel divestment

By Susan Svrluga   02/16/22  
For years, they tried to convince universities that investing in fossil fuels was immoral. Now they’re telling them it’s illegal.
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Greta Thunberg on the state of the climate movement

Interview by KK Ottesen   12/27/21  
Student and climate activist Greta Thunberg, 18, burst improbably onto the world stage in late 2018 when what began as a one-person school strike outside the Swedish parliament ended up galvanizing a global climate movement…
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Their warning: Stop destroying the planet

By Emily Baumgaertner, Kate Linthicum and Parth M.N.   11/05/21  
After the cops showed up in an urban forest and detained Manisha Dhinde, one of them asked her: “What is this fashion of protesting for the environment?” “It isn’t fashion,” Dhinde snapped back on that…
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Young environmental activists discuss local sustainability initiatives

By Anastasia Hufham   11/01/21  
Save the Sound’s Youth Eco Advocacy Corps met on Tuesday to discuss local environmental efforts, particularly the Transportation Climate Initiative and climate emergency resolutions.
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Meet the young black activists leading the fight against climate change

By Vic Motune   11/01/21  
LAST YEAR, countries all over the world witnessed some of largest ever Black Lives Matter protests, inspired by the death in police custody of George Floyd. The protests highlighted not only systemic racism but the…
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Young activists call Glasgow climate conference ‘last chance for humanity’

By Eve Hartley   11/01/21  
There are over 8,900 miles separating the African nation of Malawi from the United States. A direct airplane between the two would take an estimated 16 hours, and, as well as physical distance, the lands…
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Young Ugandan climate activist pushing for international crisis team to fight climate change

By Sarah Ramsaran   10/31/21  
After seeing the devastating effects of climate change in his country, Ugandan climate activist Nyombi Morris has a message for world leaders at COP26: "Put an end to fossil fuels and make polluters pay." The…
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Greta Thunberg: Activist calls on banks to stop funding climate ‘destruction’

10/29/21  
Greta Thunberg has called on banks to "stop funding our destruction", ahead of the UN COP26 climate summit. The teenage Swedish climate activist is in London to take part in protests demanding the financial system…
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Scouts can now earn patches for learning about solar energy

By YCC Team   10/19/21  
Many scouts enjoy toasting marshmallows over a campfire. But some have learned to make s’mores in a solar oven instead. The activity is part of a solar energy education program. It was developed for Girl…
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Gen Z on how to save the world: young climate activists speak out

By Olivia Laing   10/17/21  
With courage and ambition, those born into the reality of global heating are leading the way in confronting it. Ahead of the crucial Cop26 conference, we talk to young activists around the world.
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INTERVIEW – Thunberg says COP26 is time for leaders to be honest

By Anna Ringstrom   10/12/21  
Greta Thunberg said she expected to be disappointed at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow by "many, many nice speeches" that are "more or less meaningless"
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‘They just talk’: Prince Charles understands Thunberg’s frustrations

By Michael Holden   10/11/21  
Britain's Prince Charles says he shares the concerns of Greta Thunberg and other environmental activists that world leaders "just talk" about climate change and were not doing enough to prevent its catastrophic impact.
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There’s Hope Along The Road To Fixing Climate Change

By Robert Kunzig   10/05/21  
Not long ago Nature reported a disturbing study of the world’s youth—a survey of 10,000 people age 16 to 25, from 10 representative countries, for their feelings about climate change. Some 75 percent said the…
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Let youth have day in court over climate change

By Hollis Hill   10/01/21  
Washingtonians must face the hard truth: Climate change is happening, and if we do not change course, it will only get worse. As a former judge, I know it is critical that all three branches…
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Portland teen wins presidential award for climate work

By Jenny Hansson   09/30/21  
Diseases like diabetes and obesity aren’t the first thing that most people think of when considering the health impacts of climate change. But they’re among a myriad of illnesses expected to worsen as global temperatures…
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Greta Thunberg says world leaders’ talk on climate change is ‘blah blah blah’

By Jennifer Hassan   09/29/21  
Swedish climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg denounced the world’s “so-called leaders” during a speech at Italy’s Youth4Climate summit on Tuesday, accusing politicians of failing to act on climate change and describing their promises as…
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Youth Climate Activists Are Fed Up, and We Don’t Blame Them

By Mary Mazzoni   09/29/21  
Hundreds of thousands of youth activists took to the streets for a global climate strike on Friday, including in New York City where leaders gathered for Climate Week and the U.N. General Assembly. Their message was simple:…
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Children born today are likely to face seven times more extreme weather events than their grandparents

09/28/21  
Extreme weather events are becoming much more common. This year in China, ferocious floods forced more than 1m to relocate; fires ravaged Greece all summer, blotting out the sun; heatwaves killed almost 700 people in…
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Today’s youth will face ‘unmatched’ climate extremes compared to older generations

By Ayesha Tandon   09/27/21  
People born in 2020 will have to face between two and seven times more extreme climate-related events over their lifetimes than people born in 1960, according to estimates from a new study.
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Greta Thunberg has spent three years raising the alarm on the climate crisis

By Simon Hattenstone   09/25/21  
Greta Thunberg has made the ultimate sacrifice for the Guardian. She’s allowed us to turn her into a human oil spillage. The treacly black stuff is dripping from her hair, down her nose, past her…
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Young people’s climate anxiety revealed in landmark survey

By Tosin Thompson   09/22/21  
Climate change is causing distress, anger and other negative emotions in children and young people worldwide, a survey of thousands of 16- to 25-year-olds has found. This ‘eco-anxiety’ has a negative impact on respondents’ daily…
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4 Bay Area teens win 2021 International Young Eco-Hero awards for strategies to fight climate change

By Sandhya Patel and Tim Didion   09/19/21  
Fremont teenager Ganesh Kumar decided to target plastic pollution and won a notable mention for his do-it-yourself, biodegradable straw.
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Activists ‘born into the climate crisis’ face another challenge: Fear of the future

By Ellen Francis   09/16/21  
Mitzi Jonelle Tan was a child when a typhoon knocked out the electricity at her home in Manila for days. “When it was finally safe enough to step outside, all the big trees I grew…
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This Is the World Being Left to Us by Adults

By Greta Thunberg, Adriana Calderón, Farzana Faruk Jhumu and Eric Njuguna   08/19/21  
Last week, some of the world’s leading climate change scientists confirmed that humans are making irreversible changes to our planet and extreme weather will only become more severe. This news is a “code red for humanity,” said…
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Cartoon Network EMEA Study Finds Climate Change Key Kids’ Concern

By AWN Staff Editor   07/06/21  
Cartoon Network has just published results from a new EMEA-wide study analysing 6-12-year-olds’ views and behaviours regarding the topic of climate change. The findings show that the health of the planet is a top priority…
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7 Young Planet-Saving Activists To Follow, Stat

By Emily Chan   01/16/21  
From Queer Brown Vegan to Pattie Gonia, Vogue speaks to the activists at the forefront of the global climate movement to find out what’s in store for 2021.
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The Dalai Lama In Conversation with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists (Livestream)

01/09/21  
From Queer Brown Vegan to Pattie Gonia, Vogue speaks to the activists at the forefront of the global climate movement to find out what’s in store for 2021.
Read more

The Sunrise Movement is an early winner in the Biden transition. Now comes the hard part.

By Gregory Krieg   01/02/21  
The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activist group, has quickly announced itself as one of the most influential progressive forces in the formative days of President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration.
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Youth activists demand damages for climate victims at virtual ‘mock Cop26’

By Isabelle Gerretsen   11/27/20  
Delegates from 118 countries are taking part, with the majority of applications coming from the developing world, including nations hit hard by climate change impacts. After hearing from climate scientists and policymakers, and learning negotiation…
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Greta Thunberg Hears Your Excuses. She Is Not Impressed.

By David Marchese   11/02/20  
Greta Thunberg has become so firmly entrenched as an icon — perhaps the icon — of ecological activism that it’s hard to believe it has been only two years since she first went on school strike to…
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Wildfire smoke and environmental justice: One little girl’s story

By Lee Romney   08/06/20  
Extreme wildfires fueled by climate change have been spewing more harmful smoke into California's air in recent years. But not everyone is affected equally. Kids like Ta'Kira Dannette Byrd, who live in unhealthy, high-poverty neighborhoods,…
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With big rallies cancelled, young climate activists are adapting election tactics

By Lauren Aratani   08/03/20  
For young climate activists in the US, staying home because of the pandemic does not mean staying silent, with plans gathering pace across the country to make their voices heard in November’s elections.
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Greta Thunberg To Donate Million-Euro Humanitarian Prize To Climate Causes

By Elyse Wanshel   07/21/20  
The 17-year-old climate change activist said the money she won with the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity “will help me do more good in the world.”
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Young climate activists and the language of God in ‘A Children’s Bible’

By Amy Brady   06/20/20  
Author and conservationist Lydia Millet captures the spirit of those young activists in her latest novel, A Children’s Bible, a slim but poignant (and often darkly funny) account of a group of kids and their…
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The Environmental Burden of Generation Z

By Jason Plautz   02/03/20  
The teenagers pour off buses near Denver’s Union Station under a baking September sun. Giggling with excitement at skipping out on Friday classes, they join a host of others assembled near the terminal.
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Greta Thunberg named Time magazine’s person of the year

By Karen Tumulty   12/11/19  
Greta Thunberg, the teen activist from Sweden who has urged immediate action to address a global climate crisis, was named Time magazine’s person of the year for 2019 on Wednesday. She is the youngest person to have…
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Boyan Slat Unveils the Ocean Cleanup Interceptor

By Dr. Joseph Mercola   11/30/19  
Boyan Slat, a young Dutch entrepreneur and his group, The Ocean Cleanup, have invented an ingenious collection barge to clean plastic debris from our oceans
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‘The Ocean Cleanup’ ship sweeps first Pacific plastic

By Charlotte Van Ouwerkerk   10/02/19  
A special ship designed to clean the oceans has harvested its first plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch since setting sail from San Francisco last month, its Dutch inventor said Wednesday.
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Most American teens are frightened by climate change, poll finds, and about 1 in 4 are taking action

By Sarah Kaplan and Emily Guskin   09/17/19  
In a coastal town in Washington, climate change has a high school junior worried about the floods that keep deluging his school. A 17-year-old from Texas says global warming scares him so much he can’t…
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Children Change Their Parents’ Minds about Climate Change

By Lydia Denworth   05/06/19  
Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg became famous this spring for launching a student movement to compel adults to take action on climate change. Instead of going to school, Greta has been spending her Fridays in front…
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Eco-anxiety

By Maria Ojala   02/20/19  
We are in unprecedented territory when it comes to climate change. How young people choose to tackle this problem will be a major factor that sets the world on its future path.
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Fox News apologises to Greta Thunberg for pundit’s ‘disgraceful’ remark

By Adam Gabbatt   09/24/19  
Fox News has apologized after a guest criticized the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg as a “mentally ill Swedish child”.
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With a Green New Deal, Here’s What the World Could Look Like for the Next Generation

By Kate Aronoff   12/05/18  
It’s the spring of 2043, and Gina is graduating college with the rest of her class. She had a relatively stable childhood. Her parents availed themselves of some of the year of paid family leave…
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