Earth Day

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.

This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary-General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later the United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22, 1970. He hired a young activist, Denis Hayes, to be the National Coordinator.

Nelson and Hayes renamed the event “Earth Day.” Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in recognition of his work. The first Earth Day was focused on the United States. In 1990, Denis Hayes, the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international and organized events in 141 nations.

On the Earth Day 50th Anniversary, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sends a message in which he stressed that ‘every day is earth day.’

‘Every day is an opportunity to celebrate the earth as the Lord’s and that all who dwell therein belong to the Lord (Psalm 23:1). Every day is a reminder of our vulnerability and solidarity.’

Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces.

Tr by Wikipedia

Photography courtesy of calatoriainimii.ro

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