A huge mural of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has appeared in central San Francisco.

The enormous eight-storey painting will tower over residents and visitors near Union Square in the heart of the city’s downtown.

The artist behind the mural, Argentine Andres Iglesias – known as Cobre – said he hoped it would impress on those who saw it the necessity of taking action against climate change.

“Climate change is real. This girl Greta is awesome and she knows what she’s doing,” he told the local news website SFGate.

“I hope with this mural people will realise we have to take care of the world.”

Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures In the protest that started a movement, Greta skips school to sit outside of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in order to raise awareness of climate change on 28 August 2018 Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 January AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta stages a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 January Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the House of Commons in London on 23 April PA Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses to the occupation at Marble Arch in London on 21 April AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta meets the pope on a visit to Rome Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the senate in Rome on 18 April Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses a debate of the EU Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 16 April AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta receives the Special Climate Protection Award at the German Film and Television awards in Berlin on 30 March AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta attends a children's climate protest in Berlin on 29 March AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses a children's climate protest on 1 March in Hamburg Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta attends a meeting for the Civil Society For rEUnaissance at the EU Charlemagne Building in Brussels on 21 February AFP/Getty

He is donating his time for free to the project, which is being funded by a local environmental charity.

Paul Scott, the director of the non-profit One Atmosphere, said he hoped the Greta Thunberg artwork would be the first of many depicting climate change activists across San Francisco.

“Greta is having profound effects on the environmental movement right now,” Mr Scott also told SFGate.

“We’re hoping [the mural] is going to touch people and that it will open up their hearts and minds to the unbridled conviction of Greta’s message.

“She is a bright light in a dark time and we hope people will follow her lead and make some changes.”

Ms Thunberg, who first became famous for leading the school strike for climate movement in her native Sweden, recently visited the United States for the UN’s General Assembly, which raised her profile even higher.

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There, she railed against world leaders, accusing them of stealing her “dreams and her childhood” with their “empty words”.

“People are suffering. People are dying. And all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you.”

Famously, Ms Thunberg travelled by boat across the Atlantic to visit the UN in New York, as she refuses to fly.

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Earlier this year, the 16-year-old was immortalised in another mural in Bristol, which showed her partially submerged by rising glacial sea levels.

Previous studies have suggested climate change will particularly devastate San Francisco, as the low-lying Bay Area becomes more susceptible to flooding.