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“Earth Day 2009” |
By: LeRoy French Undersea Adventures 22 April 2009 |
Next week Wednesday the world celebrates “Earth Day”. For those of
you that are not familiar with what earth day is let me give you a brief
history of this important environmental day.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22nd. The concept originated in
1970 in the United States and is now recognized internationally. It is now
observed in 175 countries and is coordinated by the nonprofit Earth Day
Network. It is the largest secular holiday in the world and over a half billion
join in every year. Many cities have extended the events for an entire
week, usually starting on April 16, and ending on Earth Day, April 22.
This is a time for the community to get involved in some of the planets
most important issues. This year towns and cities will showcase events,
and school and youth programs engage citizens in weekend service
efforts which are all designed to inform the public about our natural world.
Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest events to date, with an estimated
one billion people participating in activities in thousands of places like
Kiev, Manila, Caracas, Madrid, London, New York to name a few.
The problems facing our planet today are of the utmost importance.
Over the last 30 years the world has lost an area of forest nearly half the
size of the United States. We have dumped literally billions of tons of
chemicals, sewage and oil into our oceans. We have depleted 70% of
the Earth’s commercial fish stock not to mention Global Warming. WOW!
However I will say that the general public has become more aware of
our environment over the past 30 years but much more needs to be
done. Global Warming is an enormous threat to our survival. Polar Bears
in the Arctic to tropical reefs are being affected in devastating ways.
This Earth Day, we all need to pledge to do more to get some of these
issues on the top of the agenda for governments and companies around
the world. Its up to all of us to take action and have our voices heard.
Climate Chaos is already changing the world. We need to understand
that within the lifetimes of children born today, it may challenge our
survival as a species.
In all my past articles for this section I have brought to your attention
many of these issues. Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases, Pollution,
Overfishing, Ocean Dead Zones, Carbon Dioxide, Acid Rain,
Overpopulation and so on. This is just a small portion of a list that
continues to grow. Come out on Earth Day and help your planet . Its
survival is in our hands!
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