Mark your calendars: Earth Day is April 22

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Close-Up Shot of "Save the Earth" Paper Cutouts on a Green Surface. Photo by Artem Podrez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-paper-cutouts-on-a-green-surface-7048039/
Close-Up Shot of “Save the Earth” Paper Cutouts on a Green Surface. Photo by Artem Podrez, Pexels.

Earth Day takes place in the United States on April 22nd every year to raise awareness about environmental issues and encourage people to take action to protect the planet.

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, across the United States.

It was a huge success, with millions of Americans from different backgrounds and political persuasions taking part in rallies, demonstrations, and other activities to promote environmental awareness. Since then, Earth Day has become an annual event, and it is now celebrated around the world.

Earth Day activities range from clean-up events and tree plantings to educational programs and advocacy campaigns. There is an increasing focus on promoting sustainable practices and addressing issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, and deforestation.

Earth Day was started by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson

Earth Day was started by former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who served from 1963 to 1981. Senator Nelson was a progressive politician who championed environmental causes throughout his career. He was a leading advocate for the Wilderness Act of 1964, which protected millions of acres of wilderness areas in the United States. He also played a key role in the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which established the basic national charter for protecting the environment. Nelson received numerous honors and awards for his environmental work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. He passed away on July 3, 2005, at the age of 89.

Earth Day is celebrated worldwide

Earth Day has been growing in popularity over the years and has become a global event, with more than 190 countries now participating in the annual celebration. Countries choose to observe the event on different days. Some countries celebrate Earth Day on the Spring equinox, which occurs around March 20th or 21st each year—the equinox is seen as a symbolic time to promote ecological balance and harmony. In India, Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd. India also observes National Clean Energy Day on November 1st and World Nature Conservation Day on July 28th. Much of South America celebrates the power and wonder of Pachamama (“Festival of Mother Earth”) during the first week of August.

Regardless of the date, the purpose of Earth Day remains the same: to raise awareness about environmental issues and encourage people to take action to protect the planet.

#EarthDay

Social media plays a significant role in increasing the visibility and impact of Earth Day. The hashtag #EarthDay is widely used on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to spread awareness and inspire action among a global audience.

Overall, the growing popularity of Earth Day reflects a growing awareness of environmental issues and a gro

How seed diversity can help protect our food as the world warms

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A new documentary explores the dangers that climate change poses to agriculture — and the seed savers who are working to make food systems more resilient.

By Charly Frisk, Yale Climate Connections

Planting seeds is a radically hopeful act. Sowing a seed is predicated on the idea that there will be a future — one that will support and nurture the seed.

Join young documentary filmmaker and climate storyteller Charly Frisk as she travels across Nordic regions to meet with people who are working to preserve the diversity of the world’s seeds. She encounters seed savers recovering ancient varieties from older generations, visits farmer’s markets that are revitalizing old traditions, and tours gene banks that are working at the intersection of science and culture.

A key take-away from the film is that the seeds used to grow food have become radically less diverse since the 1900s. In place of a profusion of varieties that vary across geographic regions — or within a single field — many farmers now use agricultural systems in which plants of a single food crop are genetically similar to each other. The world has lost 75% of seed diversity among food crops since the 1900s, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

That lack of diversity presents a severe risk to the security of global food systems. Without seed diversity, it’s difficult for plants to adapt to pests, diseases, and changing climate conditions — a particular concern as the world warms. But the film offers hope that seed biodiversity will be preserved, ensuring our food systems are resilient to climate change — safeguarding the ancient, diverse, heirloom varieties that enrich our lives here on planet Earth.

Charly Frisk is a master’s student at the Yale School of the Environment.

‘Our choices will reverberate for hundreds, even thousands, of years.’

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In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C (or 2.7°F). Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

The warning

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report warns that the pace and scale of climate action are insufficient to tackle climate change. More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1°C (2.0°F) above pre-industrial levels. This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world.

According to the IPCC, every increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards. More intense heatwaves, heavier rainfall, and other weather extremes further increase risks for human health and ecosystems. Increased warming also increases food and water insecurity. As risks combine and grow, they become even more difficult to manage.

Taking the right action now could result in the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world.

The challenge

We need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half by 2030 to create a safer and more sustainable world. We need to scale up practices and infrastructure to enhance resilience. This climate action needs to happen along several dimensions and needs to be designed for diverse contexts. Further, increased financing for climate action at a level three to six times the current climate investment is needed.

The hope

Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action now will reduce losses and damages. We currently have multiple, feasible, and effective options available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have the ability to adapt to human-caused climate change.

Integrating measures to adapt to climate change with climate action provides wider benefits:

  • Improving people’s health and livelihoods
  • Reducing poverty and hunger
  • Providing clean energy, water, and air

The resilience

Fairness is one of the solutions. and lies in developing climate resilience. This involves integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits.

“Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being
disproportionately affected.”

-Aditi Mukherji, one of the 93 authors of this Synthesis Report

Climate resilient development becomes progressively more challenging with every increment of warming. This is why the choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future and that of generations to come.

Resiliency to be effective needs to be rooted in our diverse values, worldviews, and scientific, Indigenous Knowledge, and local knowledge. This approach will allow locally appropriate, socially acceptable solutions.

Our climate is interconnected with society and ecosystems. Effective and equitable conservation of approximately 30-50% of the Earth’s land, freshwater, and ocean will help ensure a healthy planet. Changes in the food sector, electricity, transport, industry, buildings, and land use can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, foster low-carbon lifestyles, and enable health and well-being. A better understanding of the consequences of overconsumption can help people make more informed choices.