Thousands of students walk out protesting government inaction on climate change

"Take our futures seriously and treat climate change for what it is — a crisis."

Never underestimate the power of a group of passionate, angry young people.

Thousands of young Australian students ditched their classrooms on Friday protesting their government's lack of action on climate change.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish student who led her own climate change strike outside Swedish parliament, the national School Strike 4 Climate Action was organised through Facebook in capital cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, and in regional towns.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison implored students earlier in the week to remain in class rather than protest over climate change.

"What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools," he told parliament on Monday. Less activism? Yeah, nice try.

On Friday, and on Thursday in Hobart, thousands of students walked out of their schools and marched through their city streets, calling out protest chants like, "Oooh it's hot in here, there's too much carbon in the atmosphere."

They marched in Sydney:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In Melbourne:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In Brisbane:

Mashable Light Speed

Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?

By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In Adelaide:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In Perth:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

And in regional cities and towns like Newcastle, Townsville and Coffs Harbour:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"We are striking from school to tell our politicians to take our futures seriously and treat climate change for what it is — a crisis," the School Strike 4 Climate Action's statement reads.

The group called for the government to move Australia beyond fossil fuel projects and toward renewable energy.

"Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing the world and it isn’t being addressed quickly enough," the statement continues.

"In Australia, education is viewed as immensely important, and a key way to make a difference in the world. But simply going to school isn’t doing anything about climate change. And it doesn’t seem that our politicians are doing anything, or at least not enough, about climate change either."

"The sea level is rising and so are we." Credit: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Students have plenty to be angry about. A coal mine proposed by Indian mining giant Adani, which could have devastating effects on the country's environment, including the Great Barrier Reef, formed a popular protest message on many of the student signs.

But there's an even bigger picture. Released Wednesday, the UN's 2018 Emissions Gap Report included Australia in a list of countries not on track to hit emissions goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement, although its government thinks otherwise.

A student in Sydney protests in Martin Place. Credit: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Back in Oct. 2017, Australia's government led by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, dumped its Clean Energy Target for a so-called "plan" that removed subsidies for renewable energy and handed the mic to coal power.

At the beginning of Oct. 2018, the federal government rejected calls within the damning report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to phase out coal power by 2050.