My best friend is an environmentalist and she mentioned that it was ‘Earth day’ yesterday. I was completely oblivious to what she was talking about, so I decided to find out.
Briefly, Earth day was founded by Senator Gaylord of Wisconsin and organised by Denis Hayes in 1970. Earth day is based on the premise that all people have a moral right to a healthy and sustainable environment. The Earth day network has over 17,000 partners and organisations in 174 countries. Over 1 billion people participate in Earth day activities.
April 22nd 1970, is the date when Earth day was born and millions of people protested against the deterioration of the environment. People began to realise that those fighting against oil spillages, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, pesticides, toxic dumps, loss of wilderness and wildlife extinction, all shared common values –safe guarding the environment.
It has become alarmingly apparent in the past few decades, the extent of the damage we humans have inflicted upon the world we live in. Many people are blissfully ignorant to this. Our planet can simply not withstand this abuse for much longer and it is our children who are going to suffer the consequences. Global warming is melting our ice caps at a faster rate than predicted. A couple of degrees increase in temperature will have drastic effects. Rises in sea levels will result in an economic and humanitarian disaster. Many cities like London, New York and Bangkok will end up below sea level. Coastal populations will be wiped out and water supplies contaminated.
We should all feel it is our duty to help save this planet for our future generations. If we all act rapidly to reduce emissions we can still prevent the worst effects of climate change. We need to switch to renewable energy resources to try to avoid rises in sea levels. Even basic tasks can help the environment such as picking up litter, recycling more at home and even planting a tree.
This is our planet. It is our responsibility to look after it. I want my children to grow up and see the world as we know it. Not a world that has been continually destroyed by humans. According to the latest edition of the Red List Of Threatened Species, compiled by the World Conservation Union, a total of 5,453 animal species are in danger of being wiped out forever, and 5,714 plant species. 41 of them are found in the United Kingdom.
We all need to act now to preserve this world for our next generation. There is no point preserving our life history with Evergenes if there is no world left to enjoy it in.