On April 22nd each year the entire planet celebrates Earth Day.
The International Earth Day was formalized in 2009 through a resolution adopted by the United Nations, with the goal to celebrate our “first house” internationally. Nowadays the Earth Day Network involves more than 192 countries all around the globe every year. The main aim of this event is to celebrate the environment and protect the planet, also through raising awareness.
Even if it was only formalized as recently as 2009, the first time we heard about it was in 1962 from G. Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. He wanted to organize an event to speak about environmental problems and he aimed to get characters such as Robert Kennedy involved. However it was only some years later in 1969, that the event started to become popular. That year was characterized by the environmental disaster caused by a massive oil spill from the well of Union Oil off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. As a result of this accident and with inspiration from the student anti-war movement, Nelson decided to bring environmental issues into the political program.
As a result, on the 22nd of April of 1970, 20 million of Americans demonstrated in pursuit of a healthy and sustainable environment on streets, in parks and at auditoriums. Earth Day 1970 gave importance to environmental concerns, shone a light on the necessity to raise awareness and consciousness and lead to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts.
Another important Earth Day took place in 1990 when it went global, mobilizing 141 countries and 200 million of people. It acted as a huge stimulus for recycling efforts all around the planet and prompted the organization of brought slowly to the UN Earth Summit of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2000 the Earth Day focused on global warning and clean energy issues. The event reached 184 countries and involved 5,000 environmental groups. Many things were organized via the Internet, others thanks to traditional channels and citizens around the world showing the desire to participate in the environmental policies, especially those related to clean energy.
At its 40 year anniversary, 2010 was the year when the Earth Day brought a big challenge to the whole environmental community. In fact it worked with more than 22,000 partners worldwide, reaching more than one billion people around the world. Many things were accomplished like the participation of more than 40 governments and villages around Afghanistan, bringing environmental practices related to several topics like recycling, alternative energies and clean water.
As the 43rd anniversary begins, in just a few days, under the title “The Face of Climate Change” the main issue is how to face climate change and the various aspects of it. Billions of people around the world will participate speaking, discussing solutions and taking action to protect our unique planet. Related to climate change, issues like energy saving and pollution are fundamental.
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