Earth Day 2024: The countdown for the Earth Day celebration is on! Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day has grown into a global movement, raising awareness about pressing ecological issues. From climate change to biodiversity loss, Earth Day serves as a reminder of our collective responsibility to safeguard the planet for future generations. It inspires action, education, and advocacy for a healthier, more sustainable Earth.
Read this article to learn about the date, history, significance and activities around Earth Day celebrations.
Earth Day 2024: Date & Theme
Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. Founded by American Senator Gaylord Nelson in the form of environmental education, the day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970.
This year, the Earth Day celebration is centred around the theme ‘Planet vs. Plastics’. This theme is inspired by the historic UN treaty on plastics, which is expected to be approved by the end of 2024. Also, it aims to raise awareness of the harms of plastic pollution for human and planetary health.
Earth Day 2024: History
Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural events at tens of thousands of sites, including elementary and secondary schools, universities, and community sites across the United States.
As per the Earth Day Organization, Senator Gaylord Nelson, the junior senator from Wisconsin, had long been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States. Then, in January 1969, he and many others witnessed the ravages of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution. He announced the idea for a teach-in on college campuses to the national media and persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair.
Senator Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to organize the campus teach-ins and to scale the idea to a broader public, and they chose April 22, a weekday falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, to maximize the greatest student participation.
Recognizing its potential to inspire all Americans, Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land and the effort soon broadened to include a wide range of organizations, faith groups, and others. They changed the name to Earth Day as it rhymes with birthday, which immediately sparked national media attention and caught on all across the country.
Earth Day 2024: Facts
- Worldwide forest cover shrinks by an average of 4.7 million hectares per year.
- A tree must live for at least 10-20 years to have a meaningful effect on the environment.
- Forests are home to an estimated 80% of the world’s terrestrial species.
- Throughout 2015-2020, 10 million hectares of trees were removed from forests around the world each year. Only 5 million hectares of trees were planted each year throughout the same period.
- Worldwide, more than 650,000 marine mammals are caught or seriously injured by fishing gear annually.
- Entanglement in fishing gear, known as bycatch, kills an estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) globally each year.
- 74% of grassland bird species are in decline. 1 in 5 bird species in Europe are threatened by extinction.
- One-third of the world’s food supply relies on bees.
- The global crop production pollinated by bees is valued at $577 billion. Pollinators contribute $20 billion to the U.S. agriculture industry.
- An estimated 1,800 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. With that much water, you could take 105 eight-minute showers a day!
- Food is the cause of 30% of all carbon emissions.
- A shift to regenerative agricultural practices can restore grassland, as one-third of the earth’s surface is grassland and 70% of those grasslands have been degraded. By using holistic grazing practices, we can restore grasslands.
- Regenerative practices such as no till farming and cover cropping are reducing erosion and water pollution, and, in turn, producing healthier soils.
Earth Day 2024: Activities
Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, encouraging us to come together and take action for a healthier planet and a brighter future. Through various events, toolkits, and initiatives, the event aim to raise awareness, inspire change, and foster a deeper connection with nature
This year, EARTHDAY.ORG is committed to ending plastics for the betterment of humans and the environment, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.
Important Days and Dates in April 2024
Happy Earth Day 2024!
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