Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived in New York City to chants and cheers Wednesday following a trans-Atlantic trip on a sailboat to attend a global warming conference.
Thunberg, 16, and her crew were escorted into a lower Manhattan marina at about 4 p.m., concluding a two-week crossing from Plymouth, England.
As the boat docked, hundreds of activists welcomed her from a Hudson River promenade. Thunberg waved then was lifted onto a dock.
鈥淎ll of this is very overwhelming,鈥� she said of the reception, looking slightly embarrassed.
The teenager refused to fly because of the carbon cost of plane travel. A 2018 study said that because of cloud and ozone formation, air travel may trap two to four times more heat than that caused by just emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Speaking to reporters after she landed, Thunberg said the trip wasn鈥檛 as uncomfortable as she expected.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get seasick once,鈥� but she stressed that 鈥渢his is not something I want everyone to do.鈥�
READ MORE: Students worldwide skip class to demand action on climate
Thunberg has become a symbol of a growing movement of young climate activists, leading weekly protests in Sweden that focused on the issue and that inspired similar strikes in about 100 cities worldwide.
She鈥檚 in New York to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit next month. There, she鈥檒l join world leaders who will present plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Associated Press
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