Earth Day, that is, April 22nd every year, is a worldwide environmental protection movement.
This activity originated in America. 1970 On April 22nd, Senator Gaylord Nelson (Gaylord? Nelson) and dennis hayes, a Harvard student, joined hundreds of thousands of people in the United States to participate in the massive "Earth Day" activities, calling for creating a clean, simple and peaceful living environment. ? As the beginning of modern environmental protection movement, "Earth Day" has promoted the establishment of environmental laws and regulations in many countries.
1April 22, 990, more than 200 million people in more than 40 countries around the world held various environmental protection publicity activities at the same time, calling for improving the overall global environment. This activity has been affirmed by the United Nations.
On April 22, 2009, the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, deciding to designate April 22 every year as "Earth Day".
In 1990s, the initiator of Earth Day created the Earth Day Network, which united environmentalists all over the world to promote Earth Day activities. ? The earth is the home of human beings, but human activities have caused serious damage to the earth. Forests, lakes, wetlands, etc. The environment on which living things depend is disappearing at an alarming rate; Due to over-exploitation, non-renewable energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas are facing exhaustion; A large number of greenhouse gases emitted by energy combustion lead to global warming, and the resulting problems such as melting polar ice sheets and rising sea levels threaten human survival and development. ? It is urgent to protect the earth's resources and environment and seek a sustainable development model.
On the occasion of "Earth Day" in 2009, "Earth Day Network? Network) "launch" the green generation? Generation) plan, advocate the transformation of human social and economic development to sustainable mode. The plan calls on the public to maintain three core principles: to eliminate human dependence on fossil energy, to devote themselves to the development and utilization of renewable energy and to create a "carbon-free" future; Commitment to personal consumption habits and sustainable development requirements; Establish a "green economy", lift the poor out of poverty by creating "green jobs", and transform the global education system into an environment-friendly education system. ?
Since the 1990s, China has held the "Earth Day" publicity activity on April 22nd every year, and determined the theme of the activity according to the current situation.
[Edit this paragraph] Development of Earth Day
The embryonic form of earth day
The first Earth Day was chosen in the solar terms of the vernal equinox. This day is the same day and night in any corner of the world. The sun can shine on the South Pole and the North Pole at the same time, which represents the equality of the world and also symbolizes that human beings should put aside disputes and differences and live in harmony. Traditionally, many countries have the tradition of celebrating the vernal equinox and solar terms. In the early days, the United Nations also held Earth Day at the spring equinox every year.
The United States launched "National Earth Day"
During the period of 1969, Gaylord Nelson, a senator from the Democratic Party of the United States, gave speeches at American universities, and planned to organize a campus movement with the theme of opposing the Vietnam War on April 22nd of the following year. However, at the preparatory meeting held in Seattle during 1969, one of the organizers, dennis hayes, a student of Harvard Law School, proposed to position the movement as a grassroots movement with the theme of national environmental protection.
1969, Carol Nelson proposed to hold a lecture on environmental protection on the campuses of universities all over the country. After hearing this suggestion, Hayes envisaged holding an environmental lecture in Cambridge. So he went to Washington, D.C. and met Nelson. Young Hayes told his thoughts and Nelson was overjoyed. He immediately expressed his willingness to hire Hayes, and even encouraged him to suspend his studies and concentrate on environmental protection. Therefore, Hayes resolutely went through the suspension procedures. Soon, he expanded Nelson's ideas and began large-scale community activities all over the United States. The idea of holding "Earth Day" came into being.
He chose1Wednesday, April 22nd, 970 as the first "Earth Day". On April 22 of that year, about 20 million people in the United States took part in demonstrations and speeches.
America 1970 was an eventful year, and optical fiber fabrics were invented. The tragedy of "Apollo 13" led to the failure of the moon landing plan. In South Carolina? When a nuclear power plant near savannah river leaked, Americans were breathing lead-containing exhaust gas from luxury cars all day. Factories discharge smoke and sewage unscrupulously, but they never worry about being sued or condemned by public opinion. "Environmentalists" are rare. They are just words listed in the dictionary, but they are rarely taken seriously. It is against this background that the first "Earth Day" was a great success. In view of public concern about environmental protection, the US Congress adjourned on Earth Day, and nearly 40 members of the Senate and House of Representatives spoke at local gatherings respectively. American celebrities such as Lent Dubes, paul ehrlich, and ralph nader spoke in succession to clarify the significance of the rally. 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., and more than 654.38 million people marched on Fifth Avenue in new york City to support this activity.
According to statistics, on this day, more than 20 million people, 1000 primary and secondary schools, 2,000 colleges and universities, 2,000 communities and major groups in the United States participated in the "Earth Day" activities. People hold rallies, parades and other forms of publicity activities, holding highly polluted earth models, huge paintings and charts, shouting slogans and demanding that the government take measures to protect the environment. 1970 The first "Earth Day" was a huge event, and it was hailed as the biggest social activity in the United States since World War II. This activity marks the rise of the American environmental movement and urges the American government to take some measures to control environmental pollution.
1970 "Earth Day" on April 22nd was the first large-scale mass environmental protection movement in human history. As the beginning of modern human environmental protection movement, it promoted the establishment of environmental laws and regulations in western countries. For example, the United States has successively introduced the Clean Air Law, the Clean Water Law and the Endangered Animals Protection Law; Earth Day in 1970 also contributed to the establishment of the National Environmental Protection Agency of the United States, and to a certain extent contributed to the convening of the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, which effectively promoted the development of environmental protection in the world. 1973 The establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme, Greenpeace, an international environmental protection organization, and the increasing number of government environmental protection agencies and organizations have all played an important role. Therefore, "Earth Day" has become a global activity. It is generally believed that the first Earth Day held in the United States on April 22nd, 1970 was the earliest large-scale mass environmental protection movement in the world, which catalyzed the development of modern human environmental protection movement, promoted the process of environmental protection legislation in developed countries, and directly gave birth to the first United Nations conference on the human environment in 1972. Dennis hayes, the organizer of the 1970 event, is also known as the "Father of Earth Day".
The success of this campaign makes it a practice to organize environmental protection activities on April 22nd every year. In the United States, the name of Earth Day has also moved from the vernal equinox to April 22nd, and the theme of Earth Day has also turned to environmental protection.