NEW YORK (AP) – Celebrating this year’s New Year’s Eve in Times Square will highlight efforts to combat climate change when high school science teachers and students press the button that begins the famous fall 60 seconds of the ball and countdown to next year.
“On New Year’s Eve, we look back and reflect on last year’s key issues and look for hope and inspiration as we wait,” Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins said in a statement announcing Saturday the plan. The honorees, he said, “are working to solve this global problem through science.”
Jared Fox, who teaches at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, and alumni Ricardo Herrera and Diane Arevalo are working on a clean, green air project in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood.
Aida Rosenbaum, a teacher at the Latin School of the Bronx, and seniors Daniel Soto and Van Troy Ulloa led a fundraising walk to raise money for places without clean water.
Young climate activists gained prominence this year, when Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg sparked school strikes around the world after she began skipping class to push for more action to combat global warming.
He created a memorable moment at a UN climate summit this fall when he repeatedly scolded world leaders: “How dare you!” Time magazine later chose 16-year-old Thunberg as the person of the year.
But 2020 was also a year of setbacks and disappointment for climate activists.
The Trump administration began the process of withdrawing the United States from the Paris agreement to curb emissions, and marathon talks on the UN climate this month ended without much progress, as large-scale pollutants they were hindered in intensifying the fight against global warming.
The Times Square New Year’s Eve broadcast and broadcast is also made up of artists such as Post Malone, K-pop group BTS, country singer Sam Hunt and singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette.