DC area youth march on US Capitol during day of global action against climate change

WASHINGTON - Young people across the globe participated in a day of global action against climate change Friday. From Afghanistan to South Africa to the United States, world-wide protests of government inaction on climate change sent hundreds of thousands into the streets demanding that their leaders address the issue.

In the Washington, D.C. region, students from Maryland and Virginia made their way to the U.S. Capitol for the DC Climate Strike rally. Students gathered at John Marshall Park and marched to the U.S. Capitol building.

Events kicked off in Australia, where protesters marched in 110 towns and cities, including Sydney and the national capital, Canberra. Demonstrators called for their country, the world's largest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas, to take more drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of rallies took place across Europe, including in the Czech Republic, Germany, Britain and Poland, which is still widely coal-reliant and where many middle schools gave students the day off to enable them to participate in the rallies in Warsaw and other cities.

In Berlin, organizers said 80,000 people gathered in front of the capital's landmark Brandenburg Gate, not far from Chancellor Angela Merkel's office where the Cabinet was thrashing out the final details of a plan to curb Germany's greenhouse gas emissions.