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Earth Day History
In 1970 smog choked major U.S. cities and toxic waste flooded rivers.
That same year nearly 20 million Americans participated in events on
April 22, spearheaded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, to draw attention to the environmental issues plaguing the planet and human
health. Named Earth Day, April 22 has remained a time to celebrate restoration and stand up for the planet.
Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, called for an environmental
teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. Over 20 million people
participated that year. The first Earth Day had participants and celebrants in two thousand colleges and universities,
roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities
across the United States. April 22, 1970 was also the 100th birthday of Vladimir Lenin.
April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in 1872.
Earth Day activities in 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992
United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Day USA coordinated
the next five Earth Day celebrations through 1995, including the launch of
EarthDay.org. Following the 25th Anniversary in 1995, the coordination baton was
handed to Earth Day Network. In 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 came
around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out
to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries.
Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated
billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev,
Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.
On March 20, 2008, with the ceremony at the United Nations, ceremonies were
also held in New Zealand, and bells were sounded in California, Vienna, Paris, Lithuania, Tokyo and many other locations.
The equinox Earth Day at the UN is organized by the Earth Society Foundation.
Earth Day anthem
There are many songs that are performed on Earth Day, that generally
fall into two categories. Popular songs by contemporary artists or new lyrics adapted to
children's songs. The "Earth Day Anthem" below satisfies these requirements for a
universal song associated with Earth Day. Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to
Joy " melody is already the official anthem of the European Union
, the melody is widely recognized and easily performed, in the public domain,
and originally composed for voice. Lyrics for the Earth Day Anthem set
to "Ode to Joy" are provided below:
Joyful joyful we adore our Earth in all its wonderment
Simple gifts of nature that all join into a paradise
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love through out all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world
Now we must resolve to protect her
Show her our love through out all time
With our gentle hand and touch
We make our home a newborn world
Earth Day 2010 in India
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010 was observed in 17 big cities around India including New
Delhi, Kolkata, Hydrabad, Mumbai through Commemorative Mother Earth Concerts, Community Service and tree planting project.In Delhi, a group of students have launched a campaign to save
the polluted river, Yamuna that flows through Delhi. Unfortunately, it carries
untreated domestic water and industrial wastes of the city. The Ministry of Environment and Forests in a bid to arrest river pollution, has
undertaken measures to clean the river under an action plan (Yamuna Action
Plan-YAP). Students in other parts of the country have also organised awareness programmes
and street plays to spread the awareness. Activities like planting trees, cleaning nearby lakes and rivers are undertaken in full zeal.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences has proposed to celebrate
the event by organizing activities on the theme -“ Save Earth (covering land, ocean and atmosphere)”.Various other
topics such as - Green house effect, Ozone hole, its
causes and effects, Global warming, Sustainable use of natural resources, Impact of Climate change on Indian monsoon, Deforestation
and afforestation its significance, Ocean resources (Living & non living resources ), Energy resources (conventional
& non-conventional energy resources), Desalination, Tsunami Early Warning System, Ocean Technology, Marine instruments, Polar
Science and Earthquake studies have also been proposed for the day’s celebration.
Google celebrates Earth Day
2013
The 2013 Earth Day doodle is the 13th Earth Day doodle that Google has
posted on its home page since 2001 and is the third animated Earth Day
Google doodle. It is noon on a bright spring day on the Google Earth Day
2013 doodle. Clicking on the play button on the blazing sun sets the day
and the doodle in motion. The sun moves westwards to set and the moon
rises in the sky and the cycle of seasons that control so much on the
planet is replayed on your browser.
The animated Earth Day 2013 Google doodle continues in an unending loop
moving from one day to another and from one season to the next. We can
even see the moon in different phases. In spring there is a little snow on the mountain tops and the flowers
and the plants have just began to bloom, followed by summer and then a
cold frozen where the only sign of life are the fishes cricling in the
stream.
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