Paul Zinken/dpa via AP
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in the school strike demonstration Fridays for future in Berlin, Germany, July 19, 2019.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg didn't hold back at the United Nations this week - she chastised world leaders in a fiery, tearful speech, then teamed up with other young people to file a legal complaint against five countries, alleging that their lack of action to address climate change violates children's rights.
The 16-year-old's words and actions have garnered backlash, including a mocking tweet from President Donald Trump. Thunberg responded in a Twitter thread on Wednesday.
"As you may have noticed, the haters are as active as ever - going after me, my looks, my clothes, my behavior and my differences," Thunberg said.
She continued: "It seems they will cross every possible line to avert the focus, since they are so desperate not to talk about the climate and ecological crisis. Being different is not an illness and the current, best available science is not opinions - it's facts."
In referring to being different, Thunberg was likely referencing her Asperger's syndrome, which she credits for her fierce activist nature and has called a "superpower." (At the end of her thread, she used the hashtag "#aspiepower.")
On Monday, Fox News apologized after a right-wing commentator called Thunberg a "mentally ill Swedish child."
"I honestly don't understand why adults would choose to spend their time mocking and threatening teenagers and children for promoting science, when they could do something good instead. I guess they must simply feel so threatened by us," Thunberg said in her tweets.
Carlo Allegri/Reuters
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg speaks during the Climate Action Summit at United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York, September 23, 2019.
Other climate activists also face regular abuse online. Buzzfeed News reported on Wednesday that young activists, especially girls, face floods of death threats, porn, and racist messages.
Read more: Greta Thunberg isn't the only trailblazing young climate leader. Activists from the Amazon to Nigeria share their ideas for battling the climate crisis.
Thunberg, for her part, chose to troll one critic right back this week, though. After President Trump said she seems like a "very happy girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future," the teenager temporarily changed her Twitter bio.
"A very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future," the description read.
Thunberg ended her Twitter thread on Wednesday with an invitation to others to join her weekly "School Strike for Climate" on Friday, September 27. An estimated 4 million people around the world took to the streets to demand climate action with Thunberg on September 20, but she has made it clear that such demonstrations should not be seen as one-time events.
"See you in the streets this Friday!" she said.
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