Happy Earth Day!
April 22, 2013
An interactive video display of people, animals, and places around the world that are directly affected or threatened by climate change will be shown at thousands of places worldwide today as part of the 43rd celebration of Earth Day. The display, which is also available online at EarthDay.org, includes images of people working to combat climate change and environmental pollution.
Earth Day is an annual observance, held on April 22, to increase public awareness of environmental issues. Each year on and around Earth Day, hundreds of millions of people throughout the world gather to clean up litter, to protest threats to the environment, and to celebrate progress in reducing pollution. Many events are coordinated by the Earth Day Network (EDN), which chose “The Face of Climate Change” as the theme for this year’s event. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the EDN “promotes year-round environmental citizenship and action, worldwide.” According to the EDN, about 1 billion people in 192 countries were expected in participate in environmental activities to celebrate Earth Day 2013.
Earth Day began in the United States. In 1969, U.S. Senator Gaylord A. Nelson (D., Wisconsin) suggested that a day of environmental education be held on college campuses. The following year, the lawyer and environmentalist Denis Hayes, then a recent graduate of Stanford University, led hundreds of students in planning and organizing the observance of Earth Day on April 22, 1970. About 20 million people participated in this celebration. By 1990, participation had increased to an estimated 200 million people in 141 countries.
The observance of Earth Day in 1970 helped alert people to the dangers of pollution and stimulated a new environmental movement. That same year, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency to set and enforce pollution standards. Congress also passed the Clean Air Act of 1970, which limited the amount of air pollution that cars, utilities, and industries could release. Other new environmental laws soon followed.
Additional World Book articles:
- Conservation
- Global warming
- Congress of the United States 1970 (a Back in Time article)
- Polluting the Earth (a special report)