16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg is being compared to Lady Liberty after she shared a powerful photo of herself arriving in New York by boat
- 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in America after a two-week, zero-emission journey by boat.
- The activist tweeted out a photo of herself arriving in New York harbor on Wednesday morning.
- The photo shows the yacht Thunberg was traveling on, Malizia II, sailing up the Hudson River as it passed by the Statue of Liberty.
- Users on social media were quick to point out the symbolism of the photo and the connection between Thunberg's climate activism and the iconic statue.
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16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has garnered comparisons to Lady Liberty on social media after she shared a photo of herself arriving in New York harbor on Wednesday morning after a two-week, zero-emission journey across the Atlantic on a boat.
The young activist arrived in the US to begin a months-long climate action tour of North and South America, in which she will attend the United Nations climate summits in New York and Santiago, Chile.
On Wednesday, she arrived in the US on a 60-foot, carbon-neutral racing yacht called Malizia II.
She shared news of her arrival on Twitter, tweeting out a photo of: "The lights of Long Island and New York City."
The teen also shared a photo of herself sailing up the Hudson River as the boat passed by the Statue of Liberty, long recognized as a symbol of freedom and social justice to immigrants arriving in America.
Social media users began comparing Thunberg to the iconic statue and noted the powerful symbolism of Thunberg's climate activism.
"Great pic. Two women who are symbol for freedom," user Jan Snawaert commented on Twitter.
"It's a perfect photograph with the Statue of Liberty in the background, because you and supporters around the world have been taking the liberty to stand up for the future of humanity. Very iconic moment captured," user Jeffrey S Rafuse wrote.
"Time to build a Greta statue for Climate outside the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm," said another user.
Thunberg rose to fame in her native Sweden after she conducted a "climate strike" outside the nation's parliament in August 2018.
She has since become a prominent voice within the climate activism community, and has promoted the growing anti-air travel movement in Europe, dubbed "Flygskam," or "flight shame."
She says she stopped flying in 2015.