Jill Leonard - Who Is Greta Thunberg?

Greta Thunberg (say: TOON-berg) seemed to have everything a child could want in life. She had loving and creative parents. Her mother, Malena Ernman, was a well-known opera singer. Her father, Svante (say: SVAN-tay), was a writer and actor. Her little sister, Beata, was three years younger and looked up to Greta. And then there was Moses, Gretas adored golden retriever, and later on, a rescue dog named Roxy.

The family lived in a large house at the top of a hill in the beautiful city of Stockholm. Whenever the Thunbergs wanted peace and quiet, it was only a quick trip to their weekend home on an island named Ingaro.

Gretas parents had always taught Greta and Beata to be responsible about the environment. They turned off lights that didnt need to be on. They didnt waste water. They often rode bikes instead of taking their car. And when electric cars became available, they bought one.

Sensitive, smart, and serious, Greta liked horses, dogs, ballet, and learning to play the piano. For companionship, she often turned to books. And she was a deep thinker who sometimes seemed more like a grown-up than a kid.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden, a country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in the very north of Europe. The winters are long and cold; the summers are short and mild. Sweden has more islands than any other country in the worldmore than two hundred thousand! The city of Stockholm spreads across fourteen of them.

Sweden has a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. That means there is either a king or queen with little power. The actual passing of laws is done by the elected members of the government, known as Parliament. The head of Parliament is called the prime minister.

Then, when she was eight, something happened in school that changed Gretas life.

Her class watched a film about global warminghow the earths average temperature was rising to a point that it was causing terrible harm to the planet. It was the reason why extreme flooding and dangerous dry spells had become much more common, as well as violent hurricanes and uncontrollable fires.

From the film, Greta learned that ice caps at the North and South Poles were melting. This was dangerous for polar bears, which all live in countries near the Arctic Circle. To find food, polar bears must swim from one sheet of floating ice to the next. Because of ice melting, the distance between these sheets of ice was greater. It was harder for the polar bears to make it from one sheet to the next. Many werent finding enough food to eat.

It upset everyone in the class to learn about this. But after the film was over, the other children were able to go on with the rest of their days. Not Greta. All she could think about was the polar bears. If global warming was the problem, why was no one stopping it?