The snow was finally falling. Big snowflakes swirled around in the air, only to melt away in contact with the warm ground. The polar bear sitting at the Artic shore wiped her tears away seeing that her prayers had finally been answered.
Usually, at this time of the year, the polar bear would be in her winter slumber, resting after early winter's successful hunting of the seals. This year was different. She was too hungry to go to sleep. The world around her seemed to be changing fast and she didn't understand it any longer. Because, what do you call a winter without snow, ice or frost?
Now, in January, it was finally snowing meaning that soon ice would cover everything in the Arctic and the world would return back to normal. She could finally hunt the seals on the ice and get ready for her hibernation.
The polar bear could still remember how long ago, when she was just a cub, she used to shiver in the cold because winters were very long and harsh then. They lasted from September until May. She hated it when she was a kid. How little did she understand the importance of ice and snow to her own survival back then! Winter wasn't all bad, though. She used to slide on the ice as if ice-skating. She loved that side of winter! She chased her brother, making clumsy pirouettes as if she was a ballerina on ice. Sometimes they would both roll down the hill in the snow calling loudly: 'Yuppy!' to their mother's terror in case they called the attention of an unfriendly bear who might want to hurt them. There was so much snow in those times that it formed snow dunes. The young polar bears had snowball fights and played hide and seek. It was so much fun as her little brother could never find her! After all, she looked just like snow and ice, perfectly white.
Now, the polar bear wondered: 'Where did winter go?'
She got a little surprise when at that very moment a girl appeared in the distance. The girl was very young with blonde hair and blue eyes. She stood in front of the bear some distance away and the polar bear could hear the girl's thoughts in her head.
'I was just wondering the same thing!?' responded the girl to the bear's thoughts.
'How strange! How are you doing this? I never thought humans and bears could communicate!' said the surprised polar bear.
'Well, they can't. Other humans say I'm strange. I hear animals and plants think and they understand me, too,' responded the girl.
'That's curious!' said the bear raising her eyebrows.
'Why were you crying?' asked the girl.
'I didn't know what happened to winter.' replied the bear and she continued 'Now, winters are shorter and shorter and I struggle to find anything to eat. And I'm not the only one suffering.'
'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Who else is affected?' enquired the girl.
'Follow me,' said the bear 'and I'll show you.'
They walked for a while and then they passed next to a beach crowded with walruses.
'There's no ice, so walruses can't have their pups on the floating ice and need to leave them on land when they are hunting for fish in the sea' said the bear. 'The baby walruses without protection of their parents or the ice, are often attacked and don't survive.'
The bear continued 'Can you see the Arctic fox on that hill?'
'Yes, it's very visible without snow around it,' replied the girl.
'Exactly! Its enemies find it easier to hunt it. What is more, much bigger red foxes are moving in the area since the climate is warmer, pushing the arctic foxes out and killing their young.'
'How tragic!' said the girl visibly moved and both of them became silent, deep in their thoughts.
'Why are those lemmings shrieking so much?' the visitor interrupted the silence after a while.
'They probably got attacked by a snowy owl or an arctic fox.' replied the bear. 'They can no longer breed in peace making their dens under the cover of snow. There are less and less of them as a consequence and even their predators suffer as they have fewer and fewer lemmings to eat…'
'Oh, no!' exclaimed the girl, 'so everyone gets affected badly by this global warming?!'
'Yes, so it seems! Our world used to be balanced and everyone lived in harmony. Now that balance has been destroyed,' said the bear. 'There are many more animals which suffer and die as a consequence of lack of ice and snow. Like narwhals which can no longer hide under the ice from orcas. Like reindeer or muskox which can't dig under the snow for lichen. Instead, they struggle with freezing rain which creates a hard ground and wets their coats adapted to snow only. Many of their babies freeze to death with those soaking heavy furs on. There are many more sad stories to tell…' concluded the bear with a long face.
'Is there anything I can do to help?' asked the girl with a compassionate voice.
'Can you find out what happened to winter? And if you can, please fix it.' requested the polarbear.
'I will do all I can!' promised the girl, then she turned around and disappeared into the misty landscape which was slowly turning white.
The girl woke up and wondered if she had really met the bear and had spoken to her in her thoughts or was it just a dream?! She got on the internet and googled climate warming and how it is affecting Arctic animals and the world.
'Oh, no!' exclaimed the girl reading about the disasters around the world caused by global warming. 'It is all true! It wasn't just a nightmare! The sea levels are rising, the animals are suffering and humans have to face more and more hurricanes and disasters caused by extreme weather. Someone needs to do something about it! I must keep the promise I gave to the polar bear.'
The girl made it her mission and studied and studied climate change. She discovered that the climate was warming because of human activities. So the brave little girl decided to take action. She drew a beautiful poster of a polar bear, which read: 'School Strike for Climate.' The girl took it to school on Friday and talked to her teachers and classmates about what she discovered. They listened with interest but nothing changed. Then, she decided to take to the streets rather than school every Friday. She talked to people in the street and in her community. They listened and nodded but little changed, except that a few other children started joining her every Friday. Then, the girl and her friends started talking to the whole world via the internet and organising climate strikes in various cities. She was finally being heard by everyone but still little changed. Slowly, something did start to change though. The world leaders were talking about climate change now and thinking about possible solutions.
Today, global warming is still happening but she is not giving up, hoping that together with others they can stop it soon. They can restore balance in nature the bear talked about. Before it is too late to preserve winter for its eternal beauty and for the polar bears. The girl's name is Greta.
