Earth Day gives others the opportunity to learn about the environment

Earth Day has been a tradition around the world and is celebrated in more than 190 countries. The tradition first started in America in 1970 and has since spread to celebrate it all over the world. According to Earth Day, this event “would come to provide a voice to this emerging environmental consciousness, and putting environmental concerns on the front page.”

Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson first proposed the idea of Earth Day after he had seen a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. “Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson wanted to infuse the energy of student anti-war protests with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution,” according to Earth Day. 

This year, Earth Day and other environmental groups are fighting climate change and working to eliminate the spread of pollution, and fossil fuels across the world. This year reports have stated that due to climate change, the pollen season is lasting longer than previous years. More air pollution causes carbon dioxide levels to increase, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

“Higher levels of carbon dioxide can stimulate plant growth, causing the allergy season to become more severe for many,” according to WGAL. This is causing peoples allergies to last longer throughout the spring season. 

World leaders are working to combat climate change and making decisions that will affect the future of the world. In the fall of 2021, world leaders gathered to attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also called the COP26.

The goal of this conference was to bring parties together to “accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” according to the UN Climate Change Conference. 

During this conference, “some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, many nations did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven storms, heat waves and droughts,” according to NPR. 

Other committees are looking ahead to the future UN conference, which will take place in November, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. 

In March 2022,  the Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee met to help facilitate individual and collective progress towards the Paris Agreement goals. According to the United Nations, “the Committee can take different measures to facilitate implementation and promote compliance, such as helping countries engage with relevant bodies or arrangements on finance, technology and capacity building or assist in the development of an action plan.”

According to Earth Day, “now, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more and more apparent every day.” Earth Day is a great opportunity for students to learn more about the environmental impacts and how to combat climate change around the world.