The world, its different time zones notwithstanding, has just celebrated Earth Day, which aims to spread awareness about issues, including pollution, deforestation, and global warming.
We are aware that several campaigns, drives, and events have been launched since the first celebration in 1970, making the commemoration this year the 52nd.
But why do we celebrate Earth Day?
Given the circumstances that make the generations forgetful of their own health and the impact of people’s neglect of the environment, we need April 22 to remind us, the living, to protect the environment, restore the damaged ecosystems and live a more sustainable life.
Earth Day, which should be every day in fact, is meant to be spent celebrating the planet’s clean natural resources, remembering at the same time that the day has been used to raise awareness about global climate change.
There is a movement called the Great Global Cleanup, a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks—reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.
This is the time, the moment as it were, to create a generation of world citizens, workers, students, and leaders ready for climate change, defined by the United Nations as referring to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.
These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases.
We need public understanding of how to stop climate change and environmental harm.
Over the last decade or even more, we have seen climate events that have affected millions of people, from extreme heat to wildfires and floods.
The United Nations has linked the COVID-19 pandemic to the health of the world’s ecosystem, defined by experts as a community or group of living organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment.
Experts on the environment, the ecosystems and climate, warning that time is short, have raised the call, underlining the theme “Invest In Our Planet,” that this is the time to flex mental courage, preserve and protect our health, our families and livelihoods.
The moment to invest, indeed.