5 notable Earth Days
Earth Day has changed a lot over the years.
Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a global awareness campaign created to rally around environmental causes.
Earth Day has grown a lot over the years. Here's a timeline of noteworthy events.
5. EARTH DAY 1970 | BIG TURNOUT
On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day, an estimated 20 million Americans, or 10 per cent of the U.S. population at the time, hit the streets to shine a spotlight on environmental issues.
The massive turnout is credited with launching the modern environmental movement which has since seen the emergence of prominent figures like David Suzuki and Greta Thunberg.
According to Earthday.org, it is now considered the planet’s largest civic event, with an estimated 1 billion people in more than 190 countries taking part annually.
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon plant a tree on the White House South Lawn to recognize the first Earth Day. Courtesy: Wikipedia.
4. EARTH DAY 1990 | A GLOBAL AFFAIR
On its twentieth anniversary, Earth Day went global for the first time, attracting 200 million people in over 140 countries, according to the Earth Day Network.
The event raised awareness about recycling and kickstarted a spirit of grassroots activism that continues to be an integral component of Earth Day celebrations.
3. EARTH DAY 2010 | 1 BILLION TREES
More than 225,000 people gathered in Washington D.C.'s National Mall to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
With the first decade of the new millennium in the books, the network launched a campaign to plant 1 billion trees, a goal it achieved in 2012.
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2. EARTH DAY 2014 | A GLOBAL SELFIE
The selfie. Courtesy: NASA.
On Earth Day 2014, NASA asked people to go outside, snap a selfie, and share it on social media.
A month later the space agency unveiled a "global selfie" -- an image of the Earth comprised entirely of the submitted images.
The mosaic was created with more than 36,000 individual photographs.
Selfies were posted from every continent and in 113 countries and regions. NASA says.
"With the Global Selfie, NASA used crowd-sourced digital imagery to illustrate a different aspect of Earth than has been measured from satellites for decades: a mosaic of faces from around the globe," Peg Luce, deputy director of the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Washington said in a statement.
"We were overwhelmed to see people participate from so many countries. We're very grateful that people took the time to celebrate our home planet together, and we look forward to everyone doing their part to be good stewards of our precious Earth.”
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1. EARTH DAY 2020 | GOING DIGITAL AND STAYING HOME
In past years, millions of people gathered in stadiums, on streets, and in plazas around the world.
This year people are being asked to participate virtually, by creating posters, messages, and presentations and sharing them on social media using the hashtag #EarthDayNetwork.
"Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly – in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person," Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, said in a press release.