On September 27, there was a Global Climate Strike to protest the current state of Climate Change. Junior Ashlyn Woods was involved with a youth climate strike at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta hosted by the national committee Zero Hour. 

“So, I found out about this strike through social media through a national committee called Zero Hour. There’s a Zero Hour Georgia, and they’re actually asking for people to talk about how climate change affects and intertwines with other activisms,” Woods said. 

Woods submitted her idea on the correlation between climate change and mental health, and her idea was accepted, and she was invited to speak at their youth panel along with attending a protest at the Georgia State Capitol.

“So, at the protest, everyone was very supportive and very peaceful as it was a peaceful protest. After all, this is mostly youth-based, since we are fighting for our future,” Woods said. “It really made me come out of the bubble we live in and experience reality and all the other issues going on around the world.”

Climate change is a global issue that affects our ecosystem. Current issues range from the rising sea level, ice caps melting, and the fatal heat waves such as the one in France.

“Most people might think climate change is like a political idea, like, ‘Oh, it’s Democratic-Republican’, but actually, no, it’s something that affects all of us,” Woods said. “I feel it’s caused by pollution, overpopulation, overconsumption, and overproduction. After all, this climate strike was national, so all around the world, everyone was striking.”

For the protest, Woods created a sign signifying the effect that climate change has on our planet. 

“My poster was, ‘You Can’t Facetune the Earth,’ meaning, if you’re familiar with Facetune, a lot of times it is basically used to edit your blemishes and everything,” Woods said. “So, I correlated this with climate change and expressed how one cannot change the Planet back to its original state. It’s already in an irreversible state. The only thing you can do is to stop altering it and preventing it from making more of a negative impact on the Earth.”