Huge boat blocks traffic flow in Time Square, NYC

A giant boat had caused a massive traffic congestion in an intersection at the heart of Time Square in New York City.

The boat was put up by the UK-based climate action organization Extinction Rebellion (XR). Images uploaded online show the participants wearing orange life vests encircling the boat. Some were holding flags of different countries, while some are handcuffed or glued to the giant water transportation, whose length is 18 feet and has a huge "ACT NOW" written on its body. Members claimed that this represents the climate refugee crisis.

According to the New York Police Department, at least 62 people were arrested and will probably be charged with civil disobedience.

According to Christina See, spokesperson of Extinction Rebellion NYC, this "peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience" is part of the weeklong global protest in the hope of making everyone take climate change more seriously. She also claimed that by putting a boat in the middle of Time Square, people will realize that this is an "ecological emergency." The boat was later towed away by the police.

The weeklong global protest of XR has started on Oct. 7, with almost 60 cities participating, including London, Melbourne, and New York. For this month's protest, they have three demands: the truth about the scale of ecological crisis, net-zero emission of greenhouse gases in 2025, and a citizen's assembly that allows ordinary people to participate in the discussion of the global problem.

The organization received intense media scrutiny due to their extreme method. The prime minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, even called the participants "uncooperative crusties."

Yet despite all of these criticisms, the fruit of labor of XR is shedding light. According to the Ipsos Mori report, 78% of Britons believed that the planet is heading to a disaster. And on Thursday, British Airways also announced that they will work on the demand on carbon emission on the following year.

The Guardian said that the organization needs to think of the chaos they will be starting. They also noted that some of their participants could not supply an adequate answer in regards to their advocacy. Yet they still said that  XR deserves credits for this sudden shift of priority. 

Extinction Rebellion described itself as an "international movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimize the risk of social collapse". The report said that it is funded by Sir Christopher Hohn, one of the richest men in Britain.