GOOD

No, climate change protesters did not leave behind a bunch of trash, despite what a viral photo claims

Heidi Lux
09.23.19

The global climate change strikes on Friday are said to have been the largest protest for climate change in history. An estimated four million people participated in 2,500 events across 163 countries on all seven continents. That included an estimated 300,000 Australians, but a total of zero were in Hyde Park in Sydney, despite a viral photo that claims otherwise.

Australian Youth Coal Coalition, a pro-coal Facebook page, posted a photo showing trash strewn across a park after what appears to have been a large event. "Look at the mess today's climate protesters left behind in beautiful Hyde Park," the photo was captioned. "So much plastic. So much landfill. So sad." The only problem is, the photo wasn't taken after a climate change protest. It wasn't even taken in Australia.

RELATED: Greta Thunberg inspires while Donald Trump is mocked at the UN Climate Summit

The real photo was taken way back in April after a pro-marijuana event was held in London's Hyde Park. The event was held next to an Extinction Rebellion protest. At the time, the climate change activists were also blamed for the mess, even though Extinction Rebellion actually cleaned up the trash left behind by the neighboring 420 event.

The reason for the misinformation? A poorly worded Facebook post from The Hemp Trading Company (THTC) asking 420 attendees to be better. "This is #HydePark after #420. Ashamed is not the word. With #extinctionrebellion not yards away, so many of you couldn't be bothered to clean up after yourselves…," the original post said. THTC updated the post to clarify that Extinction Rebellion didn't leave behind the trash, but the damage was already done.


The Australian Youth Coal Coalition's original post has been deleted, but it's still being shared by other social media accounts.

Fake news parading as a fact, isn't anything new, yet it feels like a particularly modern epidemic. Oddly, people see fake news as a bigger problem than climate change. According to a Pew Research Center poll, 50% of Americans put fake news as a "very big problem," blaming activists and political leaders for the problem, more than they blamed journalists. 79% of Americans said fake news should be restricted, while only 20% said it was "protected communication."

RELATED: Youth activists gather to fight climate change at UN Summit: 'We need to transform anger into action'

We don't have to live in a world flooded with fake news; instead, you can do things to stop if from spreading. One way to do a quick check to see of a viral photo is by doing a reverse Google image search. Facebook also gives you an option to report fake news. When you click on "report post," you can give "It is a false news story" as a reason under "I think this shouldn't be on Facebook."

When sharing a story, it's important to make sure it's from a reputable source andthat youactually read the story you're sharing. Otherwise, we're not sharing information, we're just sharing outrage. Per the New York Times, a whopping 60% of shared news stories weren't even read by the person who shared them. And if you think something is fake news, just don't share it. We can all do our part to combat both climate change and fake news.

climate strike fake news viral photo
The Planet

Central Park is finally getting a statue of women and it's about time

Photo by Josh Couch on Unsplash

Christopher Columbus, Alexander Hamilton, William Shakespeare, and Sir Walter Scott are getting company. Statues of the famous men are scattered across Central Park in New York City, along with 19 others. But they'll finally be joined by a few women.

Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth are the subjects of a new statue that will be on display along The Mall, a walkway that runs through the park from 66th to 72nd street. It will be dedicated in August of next year, which is fittingly the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote.

Currently, just 3% of statues in New York City are dedicated to women. Out of 150 statues of historical figures across the city, only five statues are of historical women, including Joan of Arc, Golda Meir, Gertrude Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman.

Keep Reading Show less
women representation new york city
promo-homepage

If you think all hope is lost for wildlife, you're wrong

It's easy to become calloused to everyday headlines with messages like, "the world is ending" and "everything is going extinct." They're so prevalent, in fact, that the severity of these statements has completely diminished to the point that no one pays them any attention. This environmental negativity (coined "eco-phobia") has led us to believe that all hope is lost for wildlife. But luckily, that isn't the case.

Historically, we have waited until something is near the complete point of collapse, then fought and clawed to bring the species numbers back up. But oftentimes we wait so long that it's too late. Creatures vanish from the Earth altogether. They go extinct. And even though I don't think for a single second that we should downplay the severity of extinction, if we can flip this on its head and show that every once in a while a species we have given up on is actually still out there, hanging on by a thread against all odds, that is a story that deserves to be told. A tragic story of loss becomes one about an animal that deserves a shot at preservation and a message of hope the world deserves to hear.

As a wildlife biologist and tracker who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of animals I believe have been wrongfully deemed extinct, I spend most of my time in super remote corners of the Earth, hoping to find some shred of evidence that these incredible creatures are still out there. And to be frank, I'm pretty damn good at it!

Keep Reading Show less
conservation wildlife forrest galante animal planet extinct or alive
The Planet

A 'rude' encounter between Susan Collins and one voter might just end the Republican's career

For more than 20 years. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has served the citizens of Maine in the U.S. Senate. For most of that time, she has enjoyed a hard-fought reputation as a moderate Republican who methodically builds bridges and consensus in an era of political polarization. To millions of political observers, she exemplified the best of post-partisan leadership, finding a "third way" through the static of ideological tribalism.

However, all of that has changed since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Voters in Maine, particularly those who lean left, have run out of patience with Collins and her seeming refusal to stand up to Trump. That frustration peaked with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Keep Reading Show less
susan collins erik mercer maine donald trump 2020 brett kavanaugh
Politics

Human inequality goes all the way back to the Bronze Age, study finds

NHM Vienna/Hans Reschreiter

Wealth inequality has been a hot topic of discussion as of late, but it's something that's occurred all throughout history. Class structure is a complicated issue, especially when you consider that haves and have nots have been in existence for over 4,000 years.

A study published in Science took a look at over 100 late Neolithic and early Bronze Age skeletons found in a burial site in southern Germany. The study "shed light on the complexity of social status, inheritance rules, and mobility during the Bronze Age." Partly by looking at their teeth and the artifacts they were buried with, researchers were able to discover that wealth inequality existed almost 4,000 years ago. "Our results reveal that individual households lasting several generations consisted of a high-status core family and unrelated low-status individuals, a social organization accompanied by patrilocality and female exogamy, and the stability of this system over 700 years," the study said.

Keep Reading Show less
bronze age social class history
Culture

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jusst endorsed Bernie Sanders for president

via Truthout.org / Flickr and Dimitri Rodriguez / Flickr

Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign looks to be getting a huge big shot in the arm after it's faced some difficulties over the past few weeks.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading voice in the Democratic parties progressive, Democratic Socialist wing, is expected to endorse Sanders' campaign at the "Bernie's Back" rally in Queens, New York this Saturday.

Fellow member of "the Squad," Ilhan Omar, endorsed him on Wednesday.

Keep Reading Show less
aoc bernie sanders ilian omar sanders 2020 democratic rce democratic socialists CNN MSNBC Now This alexandria ocasio-cortex endorse bernie sanders
Politics