Restore Our Earth focuses on natural processes and emerging green technologies that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the theme rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only way to address climate change.
By investing in nature-based solutions, Earth Day Network and its partners hope to reverse the heavy-carbon and industrial trends of the last century, creating a planet where humans work with nature, not against it. Soil management, reforestation and species conservation are just a few of these potential solutions.
The Restore Our Earth theme also ties directly to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 very likely originated in wildlife, spreading from human-to-wildlife interactions. Climate change, deforestation and other habitat destruction only increase humans’ contact with wildlife.
"Scientists are sounding the alarm that unless we take better care of the planet, we risk more and even deadlier viruses ravaging our communities," said Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network.
The Earth is capable of storing massive amounts of carbon. But these carbon sinks, as they’re called, are continually under attack by humans: the ocean is taking the heat for unchecked climate change, and deforestation rids the planet of trees, turning massive carbon sinks like the Amazon rainforest into carbon sources.
Restoring Earth also means restoring biodiversity. A United Nations report published last year found that nature’s decline is "unprecedented" and 1 million species are at risk of extinction. Preserving biodiversity not only protects threatened and endangered species — it also preserves what makes Earth, well, Earth: a home to millions of species, sharing land, water and air.
To protect that home, we need every country working together. Against threats as large and destructive as climate change or coronavirus, only a unified front can protect human and planetary health in the long run.
"The current pandemic has shut down the economies of the world and is causing large numbers of deaths. Climate change is an existential threat to our global civilization. Neither of these two challenges recognize national borders," said Sir David King, emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge, who served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Climate change and other environmental issues have broken our natural systems, leading to new and fatal diseases and a breakdown of the global economy. But just as climate change and coronavirus painfully remind us of the harm we’ve caused, Restore Our Earth reminds us of the opportunities that lay ahead.
Earth Day Facts
Senator Gaylord Nelson is the founder of Earth Day. After witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, he came up with the idea as a way to pressure the U.S. government to pass environmental protection legislation. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Senator Nelson announced the idea for a "national teach-in on the environment" to the national media. Senator Nelson and a staff of 85 promoted Earth Day across the land, calling upon students to fight for environmental causes and oppose environmental degradation. April 22nd, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, was selected as the date. Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural event.
By the end of 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created and the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act had all been passed in a series of landmark environmental victories. The Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed two years later.
Bee pollination is vital to maintaining life on our planet. In the U.S. alone, pollination produces nearly $20 billion worth of products every year and $217 billion worldwide.
Greenhouse gasses may be a result of natural occurrence or human activity. These gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), water vapor, nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone (O3). Fluorinated gases are also considered to be greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases act like a heat-trapping blanket, making the Earth habitable for humans. However, human activities have increased emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere beyond what the Earth can support, resulting in climate change.
The Earth receives solar radiation from the sun. Passing through the atmosphere, some radiation is absorbed by the Earth, while some is reflected back to space. When the exchange of incoming and outgoing radiation occurs, some of the radiation becomes trapped by gases in the atmosphere. This creates a "greenhouse" effect and warms the planet.
The transportation sector emits 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of this involves fossil fuels burned for road, rail, air and marine transportation. Petroleum-based fuels (i.e., gasoline and diesel) account for almost all of the world’s transportation energy.
The electricity and heat production sector emits the largest percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions at 25%. The agriculture, forestry and other land use sector is a close second at 24%.
Deforestation is the second leading cause of global warming worldwide, and it produces about 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation in the tropical rainforests contributes more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the sum of all cars and trucks that drive on the world’s roads.
Across the world, forests are home to about 80% of terrestrial biodiversity, while many indigenous people (about 60 million) are completely dependent on the forest for their food and livelihood. Many more people live near forests and rely on them. In terms of the economy, forests provide 75-100 billion US dollars of goods and services every year.
Biodiversity is important for a variety of reasons. For one, biodiversity promotes healthier, maintained ecosystems that provide services to us, such as protected water resources and recovery from disasters. The genetic variety of crops, livestock, and marine organisms used for food ensures that humans are provided with a healthy, nutrient rich diet. A variety of diverse species ensures that natural enemy species, which are integral to biological control, are able to take care of pests in ecosystems.
Worldwide, the tropics contain the most biodiversity, with rainforests being the areas that are the richest in species. Although the tropical forests only cover 6% of the Earth’s surface, they contain one half to three quarters of the world’s plant and animal species.
A study conducted by the US Forest Service’s Northern Research Station found that between 1990 and 2007, global forests have removed 2.4 billion tons of carbon and have absorbed 8.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. This is equivalent to about one third of fossil fuel emissions. Forests, just like oceans, are carbon sinks.
Species are subject to overexploitation, which may be due to poaching, hunting, or harvesting. When the climate changes, animal species have to adapt; temperature differences may send signals that cause reproduction or migration at the wrong time, when species aren’t ready. Deforestation and habitat destruction, particularly for urbanization and development, also lead to the loss of biodiversity.
Warming temperatures can impact the gender of hatchlings. Sea turtle gender is determined by the temperatures during fertilization. Warming trends could skew the balance of sea turtle offspring and future populations.
Ocean noise created by human activities puts marine species at risk and threatens their survival. In fact, increased noise levels can impact certain species like whales, who rely on the ability to communicate and hear in their natural environment to find food, mates, and avoid predators.
Vocabulary
- Advocacy
- Activity or activities by an individual or group that works to influence the decisions of a political, economic or social institution.
- Atmosphere
- The layer of gases surrounding the Earth.
- Barriers
- Obstacles keeping an individual or group from accessing resources or participating in activities.
- Biodiversity
- A measure of the variety of living organisms in the world or a particular ecosystem.
- Carbon Cycle
- The process by which carbon atoms travel between matter on Earth, into the atmosphere, and back.
- Carbon Dioxide
- A naturally occurring gas formed by burning organic matter and during respiration and decomposition; also absorbed from the air by plants during photosynthesis.
- Carbon Sequestration
- The process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it.
- Carbon Sink
- A reservoir that absorbs and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; examples include a forest or ocean.
- Civic Engagement
- When an individual or group works to build the knowledge and skills to make a difference and works to address community issues through advocacy and collective action.
- Climate Change
- A significant, gradual and long-lasting change in the average measures of regional weather patterns, such as temperature, rainfall or wind.
- Climate Justice
- A concept, and a movement, "that recognizes that climate change exacerbates environmental and public health challenges for women, minorities, indigenous and low-income communities, and fights to ensure that these communities have a seat at the table in creating and implementing climate resilient policies." – NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Program
- Collective Action
- Action taken by a group of people with the motive to achieve a common goal.
- Compost
- Material made by decomposing organic materials (like food waste) into nutrient-rich fertilizer for soil.
- Damage
- An obvious harmful impact upon an ecosystem such as selective logging, building roads, poaching animals or invasions of non-native species.
- Decomposition
- The process of organic material breaking down and returning nutrients to the soil.
- Degradation
- Chronic human impacts that result in the loss of biodiversity and the disruption of an ecosystem’s structure, composition and functionality. Examples include long-term overfishing or hunting pressure and persistent invasions of non-native species.
- Destruction
- The most severe level of impact, when degradation or damage removes all macroscopic life and ruins the physical environment. Land clearing, urbanization, mining and coastal erosion can destroy an ecosystem.
- Ecosystem
- A biological community of organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific physical environment.
- Ecosystem Services
- Elements, functions and processes that the natural environment provides that yield benefits to humans and other species.
- Environmental Racism
- The disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color. – ejnet.org
- Food System
- The processes involved in feeding a population; including the demands of growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing and more.
- Habitat Fragmentation
- The process of one large habitat being divided into many smaller pieces by human development, often where organisms cannot easily travel between pieces.
- Intersectional Environmentalism
- "An inclusive form of environmentalism advocating for the protection of all people and the planet. Identifies ways in which injustices targeting frontline communities and the Earth are intertwined." – Intersectional Environmentalist
- Native Species
- A species that naturally is found in a given habitat and has co-developed with other species to keep the ecosystem in balance.
- Nitrogen Cycle
- The process by which nitrogen passes from air to soil to organisms and back to air or soil.
- Nutrient Cycle
- A process that recycles nutrients in various chemical forms from the nonliving environment to living organisms, and then back to the nonliving environment.
- Pesticides
- A substance used to repel or destroy organisms harmful to cultivated plants or animals.
- Photosynthesis
- The process by which plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make their own food and produce oxygen.
- Pollination
- The transfer of pollen between flowers’ reproductive parts to facilitate fertilization and seed production.
- Reforestation
- The process of replanting trees in areas where forest ecosystems have been degraded or destroyed.
- Regenerative agriculture
- Farming practices that work to reverse climate change by restoring soil health and decreasing negative impacts of agriculture.
- Representative
- A person or group chosen or appointed to speak or act on behalf of others in a community.
- Respiration
- The bodily process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide.
- Soil Fertility
- The capacity of a soil to provide crops with the essential plant nutrients they need to grow.
- Traditional Knowledge (TK)
- "Indigenous communities’ ways of knowing that both guide and result from their community members’ close relationships with and responsibilities towards the landscapes, waterscapes, plants, and animals that are vital to the flourishing of indigenous cultures. These ways of knowing and living have been accrued over thousands of years of experience, relationships, and upheld responsibilities towards other living beings and places." - Wildcat, D. (2009)
- Water Cycle
- The continuous movement of Earth’s water supply from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back through evaporation, condensation and precipitation.