Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. '''''''Australian Youths Kick off Strike for Climate Action Reuters NEW YORK - Thousands of students took to the streets of Australia and other Asia-Pacific countries Friday to kick off a global strike demanding world leaders gathering for a U.N. Climate Action Summit adopt urgent measures to stop an environmental catastrophe. "We didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it," read one sign carried by a student in Sydney, as social media posts showed huge demonstrations around the country including outback towns like Alice Springs. "The oceans are rising and so are we," read another sign held by a protester wearing school uniform in Melbourne. Incredible pictures as Australia's gathering for the [1]#climatestrike This is the huge crowd building up in Sydney. Australia is setting the standard! Its bedtime in New York...so please share as many pictures as you can as the strikes move across Asia to Europe and Africa! [2]pic.twitter.com/7eAPUQPq5C -- Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) [3]September 20, 2019 Similar protests, inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, are planned in some 150 countries Friday. The aim is for students and others from around the world to speak in one voice about the impending effects of climate change on the planet. "Soon the sun will rise on Friday the 20th of September2019. Good luck Australia, The Philippines, Japan and all thePacific Islands. You go first!" Thunberg posted Thursday on Instagram. By early afternoon, the Sydney protesters were overflowing out of a 34-hectare (84-acre) open space in the city. Similar crowds were reported in Brisbane and other state capitals. Danielle Porepilliasana, a Sydney high school student, had a blunt message for politicians like Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who told parliament Thursday that students should stay in class. "World leaders from everywhere are telling us that students need to be at school doing work," she said, wearing anti-coal earrings. "I'd like to see them at their parliaments doing their jobs for once." Solo start Thunberg has galvanized young people around the world since she started protesting alone with a sign outside the Swedishparliament building in August 2018. Over the past year, youngpeople in other communities have staged scattered strikes insolidarity with her Fridays for Future movement. References 1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/climatestrike?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 2. https://t.co/7eAPUQPq5C 3. https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1174872985251000320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw .