I didn't really plan to write about Biodiversity in my last post couple of days ago but it conveniently happened just one week before official Earth Day, established by United Nations back in 70s. I was planning to write a post about April 22 from the moment I start blogging but now I feel that I said almost everything about our planet related to species populating it in previous post. However here is my chance to expand the topic with more thoughts and reference more quotes and articles I think it is important and appropriate. Out there in a vast ocean of space many more planets surely exist, even though still waiting for us to develop more advanced technology to detect them, and among them probably vast number are uninhabited and lonely. All of them have their own story to tell, but what differs all of them from those filled with life is truly comparable to abandoned house vs kindergarten full of children. It really is, the Earth wouldn't be much exciting without all the species it hosted. Because of us, the Earth is not just a house - we made it home. And by us I mean all species within and like any home we have to take good care of it.
But before Earth Day references I'd like to share some personal touch regarding the date and what it means to me. Back in 2007, my wife was pregnant with our son Viktor and on April 22, she went to the maternity hospital for a regular checkout, the last one before the actual birth. It was a Sunday afternoon, the hospital was pretty empty and the reason we went on that particular day was the doctor following my wife pregnancy was on duty that weekend. I was not aware of the Earth Day really (who would blame me, I was pretty nervous about the upcoming birth) and I suggested induced birth to my wife since it was Sunday and her doctor was there to do the labour herself since she was at the end of pregnancy period. She was little scared cause of her first child birth, but later the doctor suggested the same thing, so we decided to go for it. Couple of hours later Viktor was born and brought a new, bright dimension to our lives. It was days and probably months after when I realized that it all happened on the Earth Day and somehow I felt extremely good about it. In a way, indirectly we chose his birthday and it couldn't be the better date.
One day, when he gets older and understands the meaning of the day I will order a birthday cake for him in the shape of Earth globe. Until then, this year he will get two cakes - "Spider-man" specially ordered for his friends in kindergarten and an "Angry Birds" shaped cake his grandmother promised to make.
Ok now, let's get back from the diversion to the Earth Day itself. It started as an anti-war protest back in 60s, but later in the year of 1970 it capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center. The leading role pioneered by John McConnell and Gaylord Nelson. Here is the quote from the "Earth Day: The History of A Movement" article within Earth Day Network movement:
"The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values." - The History of Earth Day
I was wondering which video would represent the Earth Day the best and finally I chose two, both probably not created for the Earth Day itself, but surely the most memorable and actual today. First one is no doubt one of those music songs that stay forever. You can say about Michael Jackson whatever you want, but because of this song and accompanying video it will remain one of my favorite artists.
Second video is the Earth Hour event. Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and held on the last Saturday of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. Like Viktor, it was born in 2007 and this year is 5th time it took place. This year, like 2007, the Earth Day main event will also be on Sunday by slogan "Mobilize the Earth". Following are the 2012 official video and introducing appeal from the official website.
"On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth™. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. Attend a local Earth Day event and join one of our Earth Day campaigns as we collect A Billion Acts of Green® and elevate the importance of environmental issues around the world." - http://www.earthday.org/2012
Please read more about Earth Day:
http://www.earthday.org/programs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McConnell_(peace_activist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Nelson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour
http://www.earthhour.org/
Viktor 2010/11/12
But before Earth Day references I'd like to share some personal touch regarding the date and what it means to me. Back in 2007, my wife was pregnant with our son Viktor and on April 22, she went to the maternity hospital for a regular checkout, the last one before the actual birth. It was a Sunday afternoon, the hospital was pretty empty and the reason we went on that particular day was the doctor following my wife pregnancy was on duty that weekend. I was not aware of the Earth Day really (who would blame me, I was pretty nervous about the upcoming birth) and I suggested induced birth to my wife since it was Sunday and her doctor was there to do the labour herself since she was at the end of pregnancy period. She was little scared cause of her first child birth, but later the doctor suggested the same thing, so we decided to go for it. Couple of hours later Viktor was born and brought a new, bright dimension to our lives. It was days and probably months after when I realized that it all happened on the Earth Day and somehow I felt extremely good about it. In a way, indirectly we chose his birthday and it couldn't be the better date.
One day, when he gets older and understands the meaning of the day I will order a birthday cake for him in the shape of Earth globe. Until then, this year he will get two cakes - "Spider-man" specially ordered for his friends in kindergarten and an "Angry Birds" shaped cake his grandmother promised to make.
Ok now, let's get back from the diversion to the Earth Day itself. It started as an anti-war protest back in 60s, but later in the year of 1970 it capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center. The leading role pioneered by John McConnell and Gaylord Nelson. Here is the quote from the "Earth Day: The History of A Movement" article within Earth Day Network movement:
"The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values." - The History of Earth Day
I was wondering which video would represent the Earth Day the best and finally I chose two, both probably not created for the Earth Day itself, but surely the most memorable and actual today. First one is no doubt one of those music songs that stay forever. You can say about Michael Jackson whatever you want, but because of this song and accompanying video it will remain one of my favorite artists.
Second video is the Earth Hour event. Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and held on the last Saturday of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. Like Viktor, it was born in 2007 and this year is 5th time it took place. This year, like 2007, the Earth Day main event will also be on Sunday by slogan "Mobilize the Earth". Following are the 2012 official video and introducing appeal from the official website.
"On April 22, more than one billion people around the globe will participate in Earth Day 2012 and help Mobilize the Earth™. People of all nationalities and backgrounds will voice their appreciation for the planet and demand its protection. Together we will stand united for a sustainable future and call upon individuals, organizations, and governments to do their part. Attend a local Earth Day event and join one of our Earth Day campaigns as we collect A Billion Acts of Green® and elevate the importance of environmental issues around the world." - http://www.earthday.org/2012
Please read more about Earth Day:
http://www.earthday.org/programs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McConnell_(peace_activist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Nelson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour
http://www.earthhour.org/