US youngsters gear up for climate protests

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (AFP): For years, teenager Nora Gell from New York had learned about the environment and recycling at school, but her commitment to protecting the planet ended there.
"When we went home, it didn't matter; it was a small issue that we could afford to ignore at that time," the 14-year-old told AFP.
Now, she is a full-fledged activist, one of a growing number of youngsters embracing a climate movement that is demanding that world leaders act now to save the planet.
The teenager plans to skip school on Friday to take part in an environment demonstration for the first time, alongside young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
"I feel like I have an obligation to do something," Gell tells AFP, fashioning cardboard cutouts of waves to hold aloft during this week's coordinated worldwide climate protests.
She is in part inspired by 16-year-old Thunberg's "Fridays for future" strikes which have seen students across Europe abandon classrooms every Friday to call on adults to commit to saving the environment.