A 12-year-old girl was the only person in her town to attend the climate change strike which saw millions of people rally all over the world.
Ariel Ehlers from Chinchilla in Queensland was the only one of over 300,000 people to participate in the strike.
But the student put on a tough face as the only protestor in her town, which according to locals is populated with climate change skeptics.
The economy of Chinchilla depends on the production of coal seam gas.
A lonely photo of Ariel outside the Western Downs Regional Council service center with her ‘strike for climate’ poster was shared online.
The Facebook post read: “In my old home town of Chinchilla one grade 6 student, Ariel Ehlers, carried out a one-person climate strike.
“What a champion! Chinchilla is the centre of the biggest coal seam gas fields in the country.”
A teacher from Chinchilla praised the girl’s actions in an area which she said was home to ‘many climate change deniers.’
The teacher wrote on Reddit: “I’m a teacher in Chinchilla (though not at Ariel’s school),’ the teacher said.
“I actually looked up the climate strike to see if anything was happening. If I’d known anyone was doing something I would have tried to make it.
“She’s a brave girl, and I support her action. Sadly, for all its wonderful qualities, Chinchilla has too many climate change deniers, not to mention a total aversion to any kind of political action.”
Another resident also agreed with the sentiments and wrote: “As a fellow Chinchillaite it’s pretty awful to see the climate denial but you have to recognise that the town would be nothing without the CSG industry.”
Ariel told Chinchilla News: “I am pretty worried about what kind of world we’re going to be living in when I am an adult,’ she told the publication.
“I decided to come down and join in the protest today even though I’m from a small town a long way from Brisbane, I knew I could still do something to make my stand for climate action.”
She added: “We can all make a big difference if we choose to make a stand together.”
One Facebook user commented: “Thank you, Ariel! Australia needs more people like you.”
Another wrote: “So brave! So wonderful! It’s really scary standing up against the mainstream in small towns.”
A third said: “Good on her, so much respect! It’s easy to protest in a crowd of thousands but to stand alone is deeply courageous. I hope that she hears how proud even strangers are of her!”
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