“Earth Day' is an annual event celebrated on April 22
on which events are held world wide to demonstrate support
for this all-important issue.
Facts About Earth Day
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970.
On Earth Day, 2009, Disney released a documentary film called EARTH that followed the migration of four animal families.
On the very first Earth Day, with 20,000,000 people gathered in the streets of America to protest the American Revolution, an environmental moment was born as a result!
Every year on April 22, men, women and children collect garbage...plant trees...clean up coral reefs...show movies...sign petitions...and plan for a better future for our planet, Earth.
Some schools and communities celebrate Earth Day for a whole week to expand the time frame that people focus on the Earth and how they can preserve it.
On Earth Day, 2012, more than 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel.
In Panama, 100 endangered species of orchids were planted and maintained to prevent their extinction in honour of Earth Day.
Water...a Life Program Fact
There is a whole lot of water on Earth, but not all of it can be used by humans. 98 per cent of the water is in the oceans which means it is salt water. The rest of the water on Earth (2%) is fresh water, but most of that (1.6%) is locked up in polar caps and glaciers! Although that still leaves plenty of water for humans, it is a very small amount compared to all the water available. In fact, if all the Earth's water were stored in a 5-litre container, the available fresh water would not quite fill a teaspoon.
Earth has the same amount of water today as it did when the dinosaurs roamed our planet. The water keeps going around and around and around in what we call the “Water Cycle” . With heat and wind, water evaporates from lakes, rivers and oceans...condense in the air...and falls again as rain or snow. The water on Earth is constantly being recycled or renewed. The four countries with the greatest amount of renewable freshwater resources are: Brazil (8,233 cubic kilometers)...Russia (4,498 cu km)...Canada (3,300 cu km)...United States (2,838 cu km).
Water that humans can use is found underground...in rivers and in freshwater lakes. Canada's Great Lakes alone contain 25%of the world's freshwater!
Putting Down Roots for Earth Day
Molly Hayes, a journalist with the Hamilton Spectator
wrote the following, published on April 22, 2013.
Her writing Volunteers plant 400 Saplings for the Occasion...demonstrated “Community Spirit” .
Hundreds of saplings were planted on the weekend in usual Earth Day fashion ~ but Hamiltonians also got a chance to know more about the full-grown trees that have shaded our city for decades.
Tom Nagy, tree enthusiast stated that the Royal Botanical Gardens trails and arboretum are like home.
“I know these trails better than myself,” he told families taking them around the arboretum and surrounding woods, pointing out the species and ages of trees lining the paths. Hamiltonians, by the dozens braved the cold that afternoon, to plant trees behind the arboretum as part of the Earth Day festivities. “You can live comfortably in a city and never really experience nature,” Nagy said. “Having an understanding of the individual trees and their history 'really puts you in their place,'”
More than 400 trees were planted in the marsh land off Old Guelph Road on Saturday, where native plants had been threatened by invasive weed species. Organizer of the event related that everyone from small children, students and retirees came out to do their part. Volunteer, Adam, 7 years of age, said he came out because his Mom told him to, but also because trees 'help us to breathe.'
Saturday included a clean-up walk that led a group of volunteers along Cootes Drive...collecting bags and bags of garbage from Olympic Park in Dundas, before warming up at the RBG centre for green presentations and entertainment.
(The foregoing are excerpts from Molly Hayes’ writing)
“Planet Earth is the only Home we have
and we would be wise to take good care of it”
(Bill Sherk ~ retired High School Teacher & Author)
Compiled by Merle Baird-Kerr...March 7, 2014
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