8 Super Inspiring Signs from The NYC Climate Change Strike with Greta Thunberg

Life as a teen can be so complicated. There's school to worry about, parents to deal with, besties to support, haters to shake off and SO MUCH MORE. But above all of your everyday worries, the things that stress you out and bog you down (for good reason — your feelings are valid), there's the massive and crucial issue of the planet. Climate change is real and we are starting to really experience the effects of what humans have done to mother nature. If you thought school was something to worry about, imagine what life would be like if our planet became inhabitable? According to NASA, "effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves."

And that's why teens all over the world are taking a stand against practices that are ruining our planet. At the UN-based August 30th climate change strike, teen activist Greta Thunberg and thousands of others protested to make their voices heard. We caught up with NY Youth Climate Strike state director Grace Goldstein, 17, to hear all about why this march was so important.

"It was a surreal coming together of worlds," she says. "You see so many of the same faces at different climate strikes and they were there and Greta was there. It felt definitive. It was incredibly inspiring."

Goldstein also speaks to how complex this issue is, and how adults can really rise to the occasion when it comes to this cause. "The biggest message was that there were a lot of people out there who want to support us, and there are a lot of people out there who want to exploit us," she shares. "There were adults who offered their services as professional photographers to take history book-worth pictures of us at no cost, and there were adults who needed to be body-blocked from Greta as she passed through the crowd of onlookers and reporters."

While it was eye-opening to witness these opposing forces, Goldstein says it reminded her of what's really important. "Either way, we need to stick together and support each other to accomplish what we want to accomplish, with the dignity and strength that all of the youth in this movement share," she says.

Here are some of the most powerful signs from the UN climate change march...