World Earth Day, also known as “International Mother Earth Day”, is celebrated every year on April 22. Countries across the globe come together to create more awareness about the crucial need to protect our environment. On this special day, heavy emphasis is laid on the increasing environmental problems including, overpopulation, loss of biodiversity, depleting ozone layer, rising pollution, deforestation, and global warming. A number of campaigns and events are organized to motivate people to come together and help find solutions to problems plaguing our planet.
Throughout Africa, we have seen human-induced environmental debasement ranging from air pollution, industrialization, and urbanization, improper waste management, to illegal wildlife trafficking leading to climatic extreme events from floods, drought, heatwaves to endangering species and deterioration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
These climate crises are threatening the availability of food, water and livelihoods of the people, species, and ecosystems all across Africa.
The World Earth Day celebration on April 22 is important because THIS IS THE MOMENT to change it all — the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate. Now is the time for the unflinching courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, and our livelihoods.
The theme of Earth Day 2022 is to ‘Invest in our planet’. In 2021, the theme was to ‘Restore our Earth’ and in 2020, the theme was ‘Climate action’.
History of Earth Day.
Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. This was when the peace activist John Mc Connell proposed to honor Mother Earth and the concept of peace during a UNESCO conference in San Francisco.
Notably, World Earth Day was earlier decided to be celebrated on March 21, 1970, as the day one of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Thereafter, the United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed to hold nationwide environmental enlightenment on April 22, 1970, which was later renamed “Earth Day”.
Why is Earth Day celebrated?
On Earth Day, millions of people connect to discuss environmental issues. Many people participate and organize events to hold discussions around topics of environmental literacy to educate young minds about various climate issues.
In order to increase awareness about climate change on Earth Day, Google has made a series of animations. When you visit the Google Search homepage on Chrome internet browser today, you will be welcomed with a time-lapse animation. The Doodle features imagery from Google Earth and other sources showing the impacts of climate change across our planet.
Earth is our home and mother nature is the most beautiful creation of God. Give a hoot, don’t pollute.
Happy Earth day.