Page 9 - IMPRESSION Newsletter April19

What is Earth Day, and what is it meant to accomplish?
On April 22, 1970, millions of
people took to the streets to
protest the negative impacts of
150 years of industrial
development.
In the U.S. and around the world,
smog was becoming deadly and
evidence was growing that
pollution led to developmental
delays in children. Biodiversity
was in decline as a result of the
heavy use of pesticides and other
pollutants.
Global ecological awareness was
growing, and the US government
responded quickly. In July of the
same year, the Environmental
Protection Agency was created,
and robust environmental laws
were enacted.
Earth Day is now a global event
each year, and more than 1 billion
people in 192 countries take part
in what is the largest civic-focused discovered. Unfortunately, the
day of action in the world.
It is a day of political action and
civic participation. People march,
sign petitions, meet with their
elected officials, plant trees, clean
up their towns and roads.
Corporations and governments
use it to make pledges and
announce sustainability measures. may be humanity’s most enduring
Faith leaders, including Pope
Francis, connect Earth Day with
protecting God’s greatest
creations, humans, biodiversity
and the planet that we all live on.
The theme for 2018 is to Protect
Our Species. Nature’s gifts to
our planet are the millions of
species that we know and love,
and many more that remain to be
world is facing the greatest rate of
extinction since we lost the
dinosaurs more than 60 million
years ago. But unlike the fate of
the dinosaurs, the rapid extinction
of species in our world today is the
result of human activity.
If we do not act now, extinction
legacy.
All living things have an intrinsic
value, and each plays a unique
role in the complex web of life. We
must work together to protect
endangered and threatened
species