April 22, 2023

International Mother Earth Day

On April 22, the world celebrates a truly global holiday - the International Mother Earth Day. It is designed to remind people that our planet is actually fragile and vulnerable, and if we do not treat it carefully, sooner or later a catastrophe will happen.
Officially, this holiday was approved by the UN in 2009, and has been celebrated since 2010. But in fact, it originates from 1872, when humanity as a whole was not yet much interested in environmental problems, and technological progress was considered an absolute boon. American public figure and future Minister of Agriculture of Nebraska John Sterling Morton in 1840 discovered a place of mass deforestation on the territory of the state. The sight seemed so sad to him that he decided to organize an event for landscaping the territory. The participants had to plant seedlings, and the winners were awarded prizes according to the number of plantings. However, for the first time the holiday took place only after 32 years. It began to be called the Day of the Tree, since 1882 it was recognized as official and began to be celebrated on April 22, Morton's birthday.
Over time, the geography of the holiday expanded, people from other corners of the Earth joined it, and events to preserve the planet became more diverse: conferences and speeches by scientists on ecosystem conservation, actions to clean forests and reservoirs from garbage, drawing and photography contests, etc. Since 1970, it has been called Earth Day.
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Earth Day has its own symbols and traditions. The official symbol is the Greek letter theta in green on a white background. It resembles a slightly flattened planet with an equator line in the middle. An unofficial, but universally recognized symbol is a blue flag with the image of the first photograph of our planet from space.
Now the issues of protecting our planet from environmental threats, especially from global warming, are as relevant as possible. Last year, due to rising temperatures, the giant iceberg B22-A began to move. It broke off from the Thwaites Glacier, which is called the "Doomsday Glacier", back in 2003, but all this time it was off the coast of Antarctica, clinging to a hill on the seabed. Gradually melting, the iceberg broke away from the bottom and went out into the open ocean. From October 24 to March 26, he walked about 175 km. Its area is more than 3000 sq. km. Scientists worry that the activity of the iceberg may affect the Thwaites Glacier itself. If it melts, it will raise the water level in the world's oceans and negatively affect marine ecosystems.
According to the Chairman of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, at which the resolution on the International Mother Earth Day was adopted, Miguel d'Escoto Brockman, the Earth and its ecosystems are our home, provide life for humanity, therefore, in order to achieve a fair balance between the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the planet.
A lot of useful actions taking place on other days are timed to the International Mother Earth Day. For example, Earth Hour, when caring people turn off the lights in their homes for 1 hour and do not use electricity to reduce heat and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. In 2023, it took place on March 25. On September 22, the World Car-Free Day is held annually, when transport owners switch to bicycles, public transport or walk.
But you don't have to wait for special dates. Let's take care of our common home, and we will spend not only this day, but also the following ones, so as not to harm it with our actions and preserve balance and harmony between nature and man as much as possible!

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