Teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg said that discussing global warming with US President Donald Trump at the United Nations summit would have been a waste of time.

“He’s not listening to scientists and experts, so why would he listen to me?" The climate activist said. Thunberg also commented that she had found Trump’s recent tweets attacking her to be “funny”.

“Those attacks are just funny, because they obviously don’t mean anything. I guess, of course it means something — it means they are terrified of young people bringing change which they don’t want. But that is just a proof that we are actually doing something. And that they see us as some kind of threat,” Thunberg said.

What have other state leaders called Thunberg?

Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro has also courted controversy by criticizing Thunberg.

“It’s amazing how much space the press gives this kind of ‘pirralha’”, said Bolsonaro, using a Portuguese word that means “little brat” or “pest”.

Thunberg had previously criticized the killing of indigenous tribal leaders who were murdered for their environmental activism in the Brazilian Amazon.  

“Indigenous people are literally being murdered for trying to protect the forest from illegal deforestation. Over and over again. It is shameful that the world remains silent about this,” she wrote on Facebook.  

Thunberg famously trolls her powerful political critics by including their insults on her Twitter bio.

In October, she cited Russian President Vladimir Putin by changing her Twitter bio to read, “a kind but poorly informed teenager,” which is a direct quote made by Putin of Thunberg.

Who is Greta Thunberg?

Thunberg is a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who began her global movement by skipping school and camping outside the Swedish parliament.

Thunberg went on to deliver an emotional speech at the United Nations during the Climate Action Summit in September.

“We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” She famously said.

How has climate change affected the planet?

The level of warming greenhouse gases continues year after year to reach new highs.

Floods, heatwaves and fires around the world have seen new extremes, exemplified in recent months by record flooding in Venice, Italy, and the recent bushfire crisis in Australia.

According to the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy, increasing temperatures as well as the greater intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are caused by climate change.

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