Earth Day 22nd April

Dear Humans! You’re the weapons of mass destruction.

Mother Nature

Every year Earth Day is celebrated on 22^nd April to increase awareness about the Earth, its issues and problems.

Earth Day was formed by three key people, peace activist John McConnell, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson and chief organizer Denis Hayes.

This year theme for World Earth Day is “Environmental and Climate Literacy.”

Earth Day flag is dark blue displaying a photo of Earth taken by NASA.

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970.

In 2009 United Nations renamed Earth Day as “International Mother Earth Day”.

The world’s population has tripled in the last 60 years placing stress on every aspect of the environment.

Air pollution, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, water pollution, climate change and global warming are the major environmental problems today.

Our planet is currently losing 5 billion trees each year. That’s 56 acres of forest every minute.

Species are going extinct at a faster rate than ever before. We have entered a sixth mass extinction brought on by global human activity.

There is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point in the last 800,000 years.

Global warming has raised the Earth’s average surface temperature about 1.5 Fahrenheit.

Over 1.5 billion people don’t have access to clean water.

Through the Canopy Project Earth Day Network works on the ground to strengthen communities through tree planting.

In Earth Day celebration in 2011, 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan by the Earth Day Network.

Earth Day Network’s reforestation campaign benefits local communities, increases habitat for species, and combats climate change.

In honor of Earth Day in Panama 100 endangered species of orchids were planted and maintained to prevent their extinction.

As part of the celebration some communities make Earth Day a “car-free day”.

Earth Day is celebrated in many cities around the world by the ringing of peace bells.

Each Year more than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities.