International Earth Day

Let’s start with what is International Earth day.  Earth day is a global event that is held annually on 22nd April. The event is held to demonstrate support for environmental protection and preservation.

The first International Earth day was observed back in 1970. The event was triggered by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and a vast number of other environmental issues like pollution and smog. Since then, International Earth day has been held every year on 22nd April. In 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force environmental issues onto the national agenda.

International Earth Day is now observed in over one hundred and ninety-two countries. This day is held to spread awareness about environmental conservation and inspires people to carry out environmental acts, and also to mark the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Every year, Earth day has a specific theme. Like in 2015, the theme for International Earth day that year was “Water Wonderful World” and “Green Earth Clean Earth”, in 2018, it was “End Plastic Pollution” and in 2020, the theme for the day was “Climate Action”. Each year’s earth Day theme focuses on spreading awareness about a particular environmental issue or problem, like water conservation, wildlife conservation, and protection, and deforestation.

Till now, you must be wondering why International Earth day is celebrated on only 22nd April. The date for International Earth day, which is 22nd April, was selected in part because it fell in between colleges’ spring break and the final exams.

International Earth day serves as a conscious reminder of how fragile our planet is and how important it is for us to conserve, protect and save it. The majority of people take advantage of our mother Earth’s natural resources, like water, soil, and air, and don’t understand that we will cease to exist if we keep on destroying them. People forget why we are all alive today, why all living beings exist today. It is only because of our lovely planet Earth.

We, the humans, do not realize that if we do not stop depleting our planet as soon as possible, we are destroying ourselves. Cutting trees will reduce the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, which in turn will affect all the other living organisms, including ourselves. If we keep polluting our waters, one day there will be no clean water left to drink. Polluting water can also decrease marine wildlife by a sizeable amount. Humans keep on destroying our beautiful planet day by day. Yet we don’t take any proper measures to stop our actions. We all know that harming the environment can, in return, harm the organisms on Earth.

Bringing attention to environmental problems is an incredibly important part of all our lives. To maintain the sustainability of the planet, everyone needs to commit to becoming more environmentally aware. The list of problems that are surrounding the environment may go on and on, but there are a few major ones, like global warming, deforestation, overpopulation, pollution, and ocean acidification. These are the reasons why International Earth day is celebrated. It brings the issues that the environment faces into the spotlight.

International Earth day is enormously important to save, conserve and protect our mother Earth. But please don’t think that you have to be environmental-friendly merely on 22nd April. You can consider every day as an Earth day. You can save Earth as an individual too, by planting more trees, saving energy as much as possible, and carrying out other environmental activities that may seem insignificant, but which play a big part. You can contribute to save, protect, conserve and restore our Earth in so many small and different ways. You can start to contribute to saving Earth with just a few, little steps, like riding your bike or going on foot to a place that is relatively nearby, planting trees in your garden, participating in community clean-ups, and recycling used items. Helping the environment also means trying to stop anyone else who wants to ruin it. You can save our very precious planet for a brighter and greener future. Remember, a green environment is way better than a polluted mess. Do your part to save Earth. Every person counts. Saving planet Earth should start with yourself.

After all, there is only one Earth. Since we’re the ones who live on it and are the “smartest of all living organisms”, it’s us who need to take care of her.

                                                          Authored by

                                                                    Dhanusaksha Kashyap