Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd each year to help raise awareness and advocate for change surrounding issues regarding the planet. The creation of Earth Day was brought about in 1970 as a celebration of the modern environmental movement. Leading up to the creation of Earth Day, Americans had been slowly adding to a growing pollution crisis (both air and water) across the nation. The release of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962 brought about change and awareness around the world. Her book raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment, and the unseen, unbreakable bond between pollution and the ongoing public health crisis. Until this point, individuals worldwide remained largely oblivious to these environmental concerns and how the polluted environment threatens the health of all organisms on the planet.
The first Earth Day was spurred on by protests started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin after witnessing a massive oil spill in Santa Barbra, CA. He utilized the energy of students through the anti-war protests and fused it with their growing knowledge and concerns regarding air and water pollution. This growing event created a positive response nationwide bringing together 20 million Americans with demonstrations to help solve these global issues. The impact was seen throughout the nation and led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the passing of various environmental laws in the following years. These laws have protected millions of individuals from disease and death and have protected hundreds of species from extinction by working to protect the species themselves and the habitats in which they live.
Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as “the largest secular observance in the world”, marked as a day to create change through global, national, and local movements by millions of individuals worldwide. The social and cultural movements that were seen in 1970 are rising again today with a new generation of young people wanting to help make change. Digital spaces and social media, in addition to in-person events and movements, are being used and are allowing these conversations to reach a global audience. The use of social media unites concerned citizens and is allowing different generations to take on these larger global issues together. This goes to show that these are not issues concerning only our local communities or nations but are instead global problems that need to be addressed to ensure the survival of our planet.
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