The oil stank like nothing Puff had ever smelled before. Black goop coated his body, slipping beneath his feathers and soiling his white down belly. The pale-yellow whiskers crowning his head drooped under the oil. He could not move his wings. He could not even open his beak.

A trio of humans hovered over his head. Puff trembled, but could not stop their gloved hands from picking him up from the oil-slicked beach and setting him in a small red duffle bag. Just hours before, he’d been diving with the other Tufted Puffins, lining his beak with smelt and bobbing freely on the open ocean when all of a sudden, utter darkness ate up his blue-green sea. Oil and gas had boiled up to the surface after an oil rig had torn open the seabed. At least that’s what the strange buzzing contraption next to the humans went on and on about.

“January 31st, 1969. This just in. Thousands of seabirds washed ashore Santa Barbara’s white-sand beaches. Residents reported a strong stench three days prior, likely in connection with Platform A’s recent oil spill. Eye-witnesses say the birds are soaked in oil, still alive but ill and unable to move. Death tolls remain unknown. Authorities recommend taking live birds to the Santa Barbara Zoo for care.”

The radio fizzled out before continuing:

“With their pristine beaches smothered in goop, Santa Barbara locals are left wondering why. Who will be held responsible? How will the world react? Union Oil has declined to comment.”

Puff’s rescuers lay his quivering body in the back of their rust red sedan, pressed between a western grebe and a restless common loon. Snatches of the human’s conversation drifted to him from the front seats.

“Awful situation, it is, just awful. Like a giant spilled a heaping cauldron of ink all across the beach. Oh, and the sea! Ann, the sea looked like it was boiling.”

“They say some 3,500 seabirds and marine mammals have already died, from little guys like our puffin in the trunk to sea lions and dolphins. The oil drowns the birds, you know. Swipes that water-proofing right off their feathers.”

“But we can’t lose hope, Jack. They say Nixon might be out to survey the scene. And if a disaster like this catches the president’s attention, maybe our hopes for a cleaner, healthier environment can become reality.”

Puff cocked his head. A healthier environment? Would that mean cleaner waters too? Maybe even more smelt and little squid to feed on?

Later, at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a team of kind humans scrubbed Puff down and nursed him back to health. The volunteers said almost 9,000 oil-weighted birds like him had died in the spill. They also whispered about a certain environmentally-minded Senator Nelson of Wisconsin who’d traveled to survey the damage to Santa Barbara’s famed beaches. The humans believed Nelson might signal a changing attitude in their leaders. They dreamed of a world where beaches were clear, the water pristine, and the air as sweet as honey.

For months after his recovery, fear kept Puff pinned to the Santa Barbara Zoo. He was terrified of discovering the same black goop monster haunting the shores of his beloved ocean. But when he heard tell of Nelson’s visit and of the humans rallying for his and other seabirds’ cause, he felt he had to see the action himself. So, Puff, with his stubby little wings, embarked on a grand tour across the United States.

Soaring up from California and over the Rockies, Puff dropped by the University of Colorado, Boulder. He found students and faculty alike pausing their day-to-day activities to fight for the Earth—for Puff’s Earth. Green flags dotted campus and students organized teach-ins, symposiums, rap sessions, speeches, and films. Puff could hardly believe his eyes.

Across the Great Plains and over Lake Michigan, Puff stopped in Ann Arbor where students and faculty at the University of Michigan rallied under the banner “Give Earth A Chance.” Like the Coloradans, the Michiganders meant business. As pioneers of the teach-in format, Michigan’s organizers’ attracted over 50,000 attendees across 125 seminars, panels, rallies, and other events, paying special attention to ecological issues in the Great Lakes and the impact of war on the environment.

The buzz about the environment flew faster than Puff could keep up with. The humans came to call the movement Earth Day, and apparently, events spanned the entire nation. Puff even heard that activists down in Miami staged a parody Orange Bowl parade called the “Dead Orange Parade,” featuring the Statue of Liberty decked out in a gas mask.

All the commotion struck a chord in Puff’s heart. Returning to Santa Barbara later that year, he learned that volunteers from the University of California Santa Barbara had recovered 1,800 barrels of skimmed oil from his home seas. Puff swelled with pride. The future of Puff’s home seemed bright—humans and their fellow animals might still save their Mother Earth.

Like Puff, it’s important to keep our hopes and passions alive even when our world turns upside down. Whether it be fossil fuel companies polluting our seas or world leaders ignoring scientists’ pleas for swift climate action, know that you can’t and aren’t expected to control the whole world. Take a breath, recenter, and like Puff, get out there and find those little ways you can make a difference for our planet.

Join Climate Education and follow in the footsteps of the activists who grabbed the world’s attention with teach-ins after the Santa Barbara oil spill. Small changes can and will make a difference.

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In a shocking turn of events, we at EARTHDAY.ORG would like to announce that we are throwing in the towel and are taking  a break from defending the health of all people and the planet. Or are we? Of course not! We wouldn’t even dare. 

While it is certainly easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges we face, history shows us that we have overcome seemingly insurmountable environmental hurdles before. If we surrender now, all that will be left to do is drown in despair over the fate of the world. The key to a better future lies in our collective determination,  perseverance and by highlighting the WINS!

In these trying times, it can be tempting to feel like giving up, but acceptance without action is futile. Instead, let’s draw inspiration from past victories that prove we can indeed solve even the most dire of environmental problems our world faces. Here are three remarkable success stories to remind us that accepting defeat is not an option: 

Ozone Layer Recovery: A Global Triumph

The recovery of the ozone layer stands as a testament to the power of global unity in addressing environmental challenges. In 1985, scientists discovered a significant hole in the stratospheric ozone layer, leading to increased exposure to dangerous ultraviolet radiation on Earth’s surface. 

The depletion of the ozone layer had serious consequences for both the environment and human health. As the ozone thinned, more UVB rays reached the ground, contributing to a sharp rise in skin cancer, particularly melanoma. UVB radiation also contributes to reduced agricultural productivity and developmental disruptions in marine life. Repairing that hole became absolutely necessary.

Such an achievement was made possible by the worldwide effort to reduce the use of ozone-depleting substances, specifically chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and safeguard humanity from the sun’s harmful UV rays. At the time, these substances were widely used in everyday products such as refrigerators, air conditioning systems, and aerosol propellants like hairspray and paint. 

In spite of political and cultural divisions, the international community came together to address this issue and prove that humanity can solve environmental problems when it is willing to adapt without contestation. The Montreal Protocol — adopted in 1987 — was a landmark agreement that phased out nearly all ozone-depleting substances, marking a significant milestone in environmental cooperation toward ozone layer recovery. The repair process was gradual but decisive, driven by a universal recognition of the ozone hole as an existential threat. Today, the healing of the ozone layer serves as a beacon of hope. It demonstrates the potential for collective action to address even the most daunting environmental challenges if we can maintain a unified front.

Acid Rain Reduction: Teaming Up Science and Policy

For those unfamiliar with this strange weather phenomenon, it might sound like something out of a science fiction film. Yet, it was once a stark reality threatening both humanity and the planet. Thanks to the tireless efforts of scientists and environmentalists, this menace has been significantly reduced. 

This journey began in the 1970s when researchers uncovered the reality he of acid rain and then set out to find ways to combat it. Their work revealed that acid rain reduces biodiversity from the smallest organisms upwards and disrupts ecosystems on both land and in the water. Additionally, it worsens air quality and poses health risks, including respiratory illnesses, by contaminating food and water sources.

The formation of acid rain involves a chemical reaction between sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which combine with water and atmospheric oxygen to form sulfuric and nitric acid. Extensive research uncovered the root cause of this ecological threat  –  primarily the pollutants emitted by vehicles and industrial factories from fossil fuel combustion.

In 1963, when scientists in New Hampshire at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest discovered rainfall with acidity levels nearly 100 times higher than they expected, it kickstarted years of research to understand the causes and impacts of the phenomenon. Led by scientists Gene Likens and F. Herbert Bormann, careful analysis of atmospheric chemistry revealed teh source of acid rain to be the burning of fossil fuels, particularly from coal-fired power plants and industrial activity.

Understanding the origins of acid rain led governments to implement crucial air pollution regulations that have been instrumental in reducing it. In response to growing concerns about acid rain, governments have implemented regulations like the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which introduced emissions trading programs and set strict limits of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. These regulations exemplify how the intersection of science and policy can, in fact, save the planet from even the most bizarre environmental problems.

Earth Day: The Birth of a Movement

Before the first Earth Day in 1970, poor quality air and water was rampant worldwide, threatening the health of our ecosystems and the environment. Earth Day catalyzed a significant shift towards implementing federal and international regulations to curb excessive industrial waste disposal to improve both air and water quality These regulations aimed to protect land, water, and air from degradation and reduce smog that literallyobscured visibility in many parts of the world. .

The inaugural Earth Day was a monumental event, with 20 million Americans participating — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — making it the largest civic demonstration ever  This movement transitioned from focusing solely on conservation and restoration to demanding policy changes at both national and international levels.

Activists employed a variety of tactics, including teach-ins, rallies, campus marches, and street protests, to raise public awareness about the most pressing environmental concerns of the time. Earth Day became the catalyst for the modern environmental movement, gathering people around a common goal: preventing the devastating consequences of a toxic environment so we all aspire to live healthy lives on  a healthy planet

The impact of Earth Day was profound, leading to groundbreaking legislation — such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. The global death rate from unsafe drinking water has sharply declined from nearly 41 deaths per 100,000 people in 1990, to only 10 per 100,000 in 2021. By highlighting that humanity’s exploitation of resources for industrialization not only harmed the planet but also directly had impacted human health too. This first Earth Day set the stage for future environmental advocacy and policy changes.

What Comes Next?

There is still work to be done, but these successes remind us that progress is possible. So, let’s not abandon hope; instead, let’s build on these achievements to tackle the climate crisis head-on. Happy April Fool’s Day from EARTHDAY.ORG! We’re not giving up, and neither should you. Stay inspired, and together, we can make a difference.

As Earth Action Day approaches on April 22, it’s a powerful reminder that meaningful change starts with informed, collective effort. Earth Action Day is a rallying cry to continue to hold our elected officials accountable. We refuse to allow the rollback of environmental protections and for corporations to pollute unchecked.

For Earth Action Day, take tangible steps to activate the environmental movement. Register to vote, speak up, and encourage your community to do the same, because a livable future depends on what we do today.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org.

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Every year on January 28th, Global Community Engagement Day inspires individuals, organizations, and institutions to form stronger bonds with their communities. These values have been the foundation of every Earth Day as well. 

For 55 years, Earth Day has changed the world each year by providing opportunities for communities to come together, forming a network of support which keeps neighborhoods clean, educates people of all ages about our changing climate, renewable energy deforestation and how plastics poses a risk to human health, and advocates for measures that not only heal the planet but also ensure safe, healthy, and prosperous communities. 

This Global Community Engagement Day, why don’t you take a minute to explore these five opportunities to make a difference in your community every single day and join the Earth Day movement!

Meet with your Mayor for Earth Action Day

Earth Action Day is our brand new campaign inviting the people all over the world to get involved and be part of the solution. How? Engage with your local elected officials, like town mayors, in meaningful dialogue about everything related to the environment. But in 2025 we strongly suggest you give a special focus to renewable energy. Why? Because for 2025 EARTHDAY.ORG designated the global Earth Day theme as Our Power, Our Planet, with the goal of tripling the global generation of clean electricity by 2030. Renewable energy comes from replenishable sources, like the sun, which do not produce greenhouse gasses and therefore do not drive climate change. It is energy that ends our reliance on fossil fuels and the damage they cause to both our environment and human health.

Did You Know?

Renewable energy represented 25% of the electricity generated in the United States alone in the first 6 months of 2023, with some researchers predicting that within ten years, renewable energy could account for 90% of US energy needs. We have the technology to meet our global energy needs with clean, affordable, renewable power from solar, wind, geothermal, tidal and hydro resources — all of which can be stored using batteries and fuel cells.

Renewable Energy = Jobs

Renewable energy is not only cleaner and healthier — it represents a huge economic opportunity and will create 14 million new jobs globally. 

We can help you plan a roundtable event in your community, ensure participation from local government officials, and start talking about how you can back renewable energy! Contact Evan Raskin, National Campaign Manager, at raskin@earthday.org to join Earth Action Day.

Join the Great Global Cleanup

Cleanups are a fun and easy way to amplify your impact, meet like minded people and pick up a lot of trash! Mainly plastic trash!  

EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO) is focused on accelerating solutions to combat plastic pollution by activating governments, citizens, and businesses to do their part– everyone accounted for, everyone accountable. 

It’s YOUR turn to make a difference, starting with organizing your own clean up or joining an existing community cleanup. It’s easy!  Visit the Great Global Cleanup site or contact Michael Karapetian, Great Global Cleanup Coordinator, at karapetian@earthday.org to clean up your community this Earth Day.

Sign the Climate Education letter for Businesses

EDO is calling on all business leaders to join our campaign advocating for climate education in schools, colleges, and vocational training programs worldwide. Companies such as UPS, LinkedIn, and AXA Insurance have already pledged their support, and we invite you to add your voice to this critical initiative. If you are a local business or business leader why not give it a read and sign on!

By supporting climate education, you are investing in a sustainable future for both the planet. If you are a business leader interested in signing this letter, please reach out to Ryan Taylor directly at taylor@earthday.org.

Unite with the EARTHDAY.ORG Campus Coalition

College students have been the driving force behind Earth Day since the beginning  when a student activist named Denis Hayes organized the very first Earth Day back in 1970 and helped to rally 20 million Americans to march for change to protect the environment. 

EARTHDAY.ORG’s Campus Coalition unites campus community members worldwide to carry out Earth Day actions at their universities, schools and colleges. Students, professors, and university administrators who want to learn more and get involved can contact Lee Franklin, Campus Coordinator, at franklin@earthday.org to get involved.

Come Together for Climate Action Through Faith

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the faith community has had a critical voice in overcoming obstacles and integrating environmental issues into political, social and economic agendas. We invite faith communities from all backgrounds to come together under the common cause of caring for the divine creation. 

Our very own Libby Bunch, a committed Christian showcased her commitment in a powerful Op Ed this Christmas, 2024. 

The Our Power, Our Planet, theme for Earth Day 2025 encourages Communities of Faith to consider their congregation’s role in a clean energy future and how we can all be better stewards of creation. To learn more about the Faith & the Environment initiative and how we can support your congregation this Earth Day, please contact Libby Bunch at bunch@earthday.org.

There’s something for everyone and every community! Make 2025 your year to get involved in the EARTH DAY movement and make a positive difference to the planet. For 55 years Earth Day has been making a difference, we’re not stopping now.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org.

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On April 22, 2025, EARTH DAY will mark its 55th anniversary— a perfect moment to reflect on how Earth Day has made a lasting impact on our planet and proof that an engaged public can change the world for the better.

A Little Bit of History

Firstly, we have been championing policy changes around the world for over five decades, but the Earth Day movement started in the U.S back in 1970, co-organized by EDO’s founder and then student activist, Denis Hayes.

Hayes was recruited by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to organize a series of campus teach-ins to mark a day of environmental action, but Hayes was challenged to scale the idea up so that it appealed to the broader public as well as college students. 

Picking the actual day was their first big decision. They chose April 22, which was on a Wednesday in 1970, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, the idea being that this would most likely maximize student participation at least. They decided to name the day too – hence Earth Day was born. It immediately started to garner media attention on television news, radio and in newspapers across the country.

Oil spills, raw sewage, toxic chemical dumps, rampant pesticide use, the degradation of important habitats and wildlife loss were all stories beginning to hit the headlines and creating a sense of deep-seated concern that not enough was being done to protect the environment. Earth Day effectively became a rallying cry for other organizations and the public to get behind to collectively demand change and government action. Hayes built a national staff of just 85 activists to promote events across the U.S and invite everyone to make their voices heard. They did. 

Mass Movements = Policy Change

That first Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — from all walks of life and of all political persuasions to take to the streets and demand protection against the impacts of 150 years of unaccountable industrial development.  All at a time that predated computers, social media, and cell phones. Even today it remains one of the biggest secular events in American history.  

By the end of 1970, that very first Earth Day led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of important environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Clean Air Act. Two years later Congress passed the Clean Water Act.  In 1990, the U.S strengthened the Clean Air Act Amendments to tackle acid rain and air pollution, inspiring similar laws worldwide. So, it was fitting in 2016 that Earth Day was the day chosen to mark the opening day of signatures for the Paris Climate Agreement.

You can hear Denis Hayes talking about his latest activism with Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG, here on 22 Minutes With… 

Living Greener

But EARTHDAY.ORG’s work to promote Earth Day as a force for change is not just about driving policy change designed to protect the environment – Earth Day is proud to be a gateway to all kinds of environmental activism across the world. From our global  initiative A Billion Acts of Green, launched in 2010, which has inspired over 3 billion acts of environmental stewardship to the Great Global Cleanup, launched in 2020, which has inspired over 16 million volunteers in just four years to collectively remove nearly 100 million tons of trash—primarily plastic—from our communities.

If you want to support our work in our 55th year, please spread the word about our campaign by reposting about us on social media. We are active on, IG, LinkedIn, You Tube, X and Facebook.

Learning to Be Green

We are too the global leaders in advocating for the universal teaching of climate education in all schools and our report Climate Education vs The Climate Crisis makes a compelling case for why we believe this is so important in managing the climate crisis. It counters misinformation as well as equipping students with the skills they will need for careers in the ‘green economy’. 

With over 95% of U.S. schools and a billion people worldwide observing Earth Day, this movement is uniquely positioned to advocate for climate education and has been championing individual nations across the world to include the teaching of climate education in their Nationally Determined Contributions, known as NDC’s.

Setting the Theme

As well as these core campaigns, EARTHDAY.ORG sets the theme for Earth Day every year and in 2024 chose, Planet vs Plastics, which shifted the global conversation on plastics so that it did not just cover plastic pollution and its impact on wildlife but also included its impact on human health, via microplastics and their toxic chemicals. By highlighting how these substances threaten human health, our reports, Babies vs Plastics and Pets vs. Plastics drove media widespread coverage on a critically important issue. 

For 2025, EDO has chosen ‘Our Power, Our Planet‘ as the Earth Day theme, aiming to triple global electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030.

Renewable energy comes from replenishable sources, like the sun, which do not produce greenhouse gasses and therefore do not drive climate change. It is energy that ends our reliance on fossil fuels and the damage they cause to both our environment and human health.

Through our new campaign, Earth Day Global Conversation, we will collaborate with the media, communities, mayors, and local leaders to drive the support and uptake of renewable energy. We’ll highlight how solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and tidal energy benefit both the planet and our health, promote energy equity, and are already creating millions of new jobs worldwide with many more to follow.

If you want to support our work, sign the Our Power, Our Planet Renewable Energy Petition HERE.  Join us in urging governments worldwide to prioritize tripling renewable energy by 2030 and help us reach 55,000 signatures by Earth Day 2025.

For the Love of Trees

Lastly, through our Canopy Project we have planted millions of trees. In Mexico, Uganda, South Africa, Bangladesh, Madagascar, and the precious Sundarbans mangroves of India Working with local communities we have used your generous donations in the places that have most needed them to reforest. If you want to support our tree planting efforts, please consider donating to Earth Day. 

All your contributions directly fund our initiatives in planting trees, backing renewable energy advocacy, campaigning for the inclusion of climate education in all schools globally, and supporting our community-based action. For 55 years you have walked with us and helped to create this powerful movement, make this the biggest observance of Earth Day yet and get involved!

Photo Credit: Rocky Mountain News Photographs, Denver Public Library

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org.

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On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million Americans banded together to emphatically tell their government the time had come to prioritize the environment. This one day was the culmination of weeks of impassioned work by the Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, and graduate-student Denis Hayes, who Nelson had turned to for help in making it happen. Both of them were inspired to act after witnessing a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara in California. They chose April 22, as it sat comfortably between Spring Break and final after exams, giving them the best opportunity to see students support their efforts. 

The impact from the first Earth Day reverberated through the country and reached the doors of the nation’s highest powers both at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Only a few months later in July of the same year, the Environmental Protection Agency was established to regulate pollution in the nation.  In 1970, the existing Clean Air Act was updated to include much stronger regulation of ambient air quality and significantly strengthened federal enforcement authority. Two years later, the Clean Water Act was passed, helping to usher in a new era of environmental legislation.

Gradually, Earth Day coalesced into a movement with a few variations along the way, such as when Canada held its first Earth Day on Sept. 11. Yet by 1980, Earth Day was being marked in Washington. D.C. across from the White House. This location was highly appropriate since by then it had helped usher in a whole raft of additional US environmental legislation, including the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Superfund, Toxics Substances Control Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

In 1990, Hayes helped to organize the first global Earth Day with over 140 countries and 200 million people participating in a series of ways. Though these seeds of change may have sprung up in different areas of the globe, the reverberations from this unified day continued to shape international efforts for environmental action. 

The 1992 Earth Summit brought together representatives from 179 nations, and the group produced two significant conventions: A Framework Convention on Climate Change and A Framework Convention on Biological Diversity. These were aimed at decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as well as protecting and sustaining the world’s plant and animal biodiversity, respectively. 

At the same time as the summit, a global forum was held in Rio de Janeiro. The Rio Declarations that came out of the forum featured 27 principles for the unified promotion of sustainable environmental practices, including in situations of war. Also included was a clause ensuring a global partnership to move towards sustainable development. The sense that global governments needed to come together to work on legislation and agreements to create an international blueprint to protect the environment had taken hold. 

Individual nations were also agents of change. In 1991, Sweden created a historic carbon tax which remains a foundation of the nation’s environmental policies. Just a few years later in 1994, Costa Rica made an addendum to its constitution, adding the right to a healthy environment. These acts symbolized an important shift in how environmental concerns were framed  — they had, in effect, become human rights issues. 

The footprints of the very first Earth Day can still be seen globally. It ignited generational activism to support the environment, and today many different regions worldwide use Earth Day as a reminder of these shared goals. Though they may be celebrating in different ways, what unites them is this very special day. In Granada, Spain, the Global Unity and Regeneration Gathering highlights the importance of a mental and spiritual connection with the Earth. In Japan, the two-day celebration at Yoyogi Park has become a time of giving thanks filled with performers and conversation. Though different, these celebrations both echo the impact that Earth Day has had on our mindset surrounding environmental activism. 

This shift has led to incredible environmental achievements globally, such as Brazil’s reduction of Amazon Rainforest deforestation. After declaring in 2005 that the nation would strive to reduce deforestation by 80% by 2020, Brazil was able to decrease the rate by 67% in only five years. If they can prioritize changes that yield such significant results, what else can we do?

With Earth Day 2024 quickly approaching, now is the perfect time to reassert our commitment to prioritizing environmental sustainability. In a 2020 interview with EARTHDAY.ORG, Denis Hayes, he emphasized the dual importance of both new policies and new perspective in bringing forth changes after the first Earth Day. 

“In the 1960s, the most common perception of pollution was that it’s the smell of progress, the smell of prosperity,” Hayes said. “And we were able to create a context in which people began to change their behavior… for environmental reasons.”

Earth Day 2024’s Theme is Planet vs. Plastics, with the demand that we reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040. If we choose to prioritize this goal, we could make it reality, because half of ALL the plastic produced annually is single use plastic. We use it once and throw it away so that it creates plastic graveyards in our landfills and our oceans. Can we embrace the spirit of the very first Earth Day once more, from 54 years ago, and collectively decide that is not acceptable? Make a difference this Earth Day — sign the Global Plastics Treaty, stop using single-use plastic, demand that retailers and the fast food industry listen to you and whatever you do — DON’T GIVE UP!

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Earth Day was born at a time in the United States when our rivers were on fire, our skies were dark with pollution and many of our waters were unsafe to drink. Originally conceived of as an environmental teach-in by Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day expanded into a massive movement that, on April 22, 1970, brought 20 million Americans from all walks of life out on to the streets to demand change from our leaders.

Fast forward to 2023. The world faces a new set of complex environmental challenges: species loss, climate change, and explosion in plastic pollution and concerns about the health implications of microplastics and more.  To take on these global issues, Earth Day has grown into an international movement and is celebrated by up to a billion people in 192 countries around the world. The mission of EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO), the global organizer of Earth Day, is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide.

To achieve our mission, EDO works with over 150,000 partners around the globe. Since the very first Earth Day, the faith community – religious and spiritual leaders, congregations, and individuals of faith – have been active and dedicated partners in the movement. The National Council of Churches, for example, encouraged church leadership to devote the Sunday before Earth Day to the environment. Our partnerships now include multiple faith traditions from the Black Baptists to the Sikhs to the Evangelicals and the scope of our work together includes a wide variety of activities to drive environmental change.

In India our EDO team worked with the authorities at the Golden Temple (the foremost spiritual site of the Sikh religion) about considering becoming plastic free and within days faith leaders there had banned single use plastic use within the precincts of the Golden Temple. The same EDO team also produced guidance on how to celebrate the major Hindu festival of Diwali without using polluting firecrackers. The air can be thick with smog afterwards – causing asthma attacks, bronchitis, allergy symptoms and additional negative impacts on human health and wildlife. Promoting a ‘Green Diwali’ was a way to offer solutions.

EDO leadership has met on several occasions with His Holiness Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, and other representatives of the Vatican. Earth Day messages from Pope Francis have been shared at Earth Day on the National Mall and our virtual Earth Day reaching millions around the world. In 2015 when Pope Francis visited Washington to address Congress on Capitol Hill, EDO helped coordinate the Moral Action on Climate Rally to show support for the Pope’s call for urgent action on climate, economic and immigrant justice. The event featured many prominent faith leaders including Reverend William Barber II, representatives of the Young Evangelicals for Climate, and more.

Also, in 2015 Interfaith Power & Light (IFPL), a non-profit representing 18,000 congregations in 40 states around the country, announced a 100,000-ton carbon reduction commitment in support of EARTHDAY.ORG’s Billion Acts of Green Campaign. IFPL called on congregations and individuals across the US to commit to reducing their carbon pollution 50 percent by 2030 and going carbon neutral by 2050.

In 2020 EDO partnered with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation to host a global dialogue, “Honoring Tradition Keepers & Change Agents as Earth Day Turns 50”. The digital dialogue reached over 350 participants and included speakers from the World Council of Churches and the United Nations Environment Programme, among others.

In 2020 the first ever Faith Call to Climate Justice Web Summit was hosted with lead organizations the Alabama People’s Justice Council, Greenfaith, and the Parliament of the World’s Religions along with environmental justice leaders, students, and grassroots organizers, to successfully offer three days of climate justice programming from a faith perspective to thousands of viewers.

The EDO team has been a long-time participant in, and supporter of the National Prayer Breakfasts and White House and Congressional briefings organized by the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care, including hosting Earth Day on the Hill in 2007.

Our theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet v. Plastics and EDO is once again looking to partner with the faith community because we know partnering with this community gets results. Plans for the following activities with the faith community are already underway:

Global Earth Day Prayer event: For Earth Day 2023, EDO organized a global prayer event with faith organizations around the world holding Earth Day ceremonies at sunrise in their community. Key activations included: indigenous E Ala Ē ceremonies on the shores of every Hawaiian island plus two volcanoes, approximately 140 locations within the Brahma Kumaris movement, a ceremony atop Machu Picchu, and events at spiritual centers across India. For Earth Day 2024, we are organizing a similar global prayer event, with options for events at different times of the day.

Great Global Cleanup: We invite faith communities to participate in the Great Global Cleanup which EDO organizes all year around, but which builds around Earth Day itself on April 22nd.  It’s a great way to bring like-minded communities together to get hands on and pick up trash in towns, rivers, playgrounds – wherever it is – EDO wants to get it picked up!

EDO also has several online resources available to help support Earth Day activities on our website at EARTHDAY.ORG from signing the Plastic Treaty Petition to and joining our Social Squad. There are loads of trips and tricks on how to live a greener life. Congregations can access our toolkits, for free, which teach members of the public how to organize impactful volunteer events such as the EDO cleanups, marches/rallies/protests, and more. For those interested in preparing Earth Day sermons, EDO has resources too that help identify the connections between scripture and environmentalism. We will also be developing additional resources for congregations to improve sustainability in their houses of worship, highlighting plastic reduction measures.

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Since the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, millions around the world, angry and frustrated with the pace of change from government and corporate leaders, have used Earth Day as the launching pad to make their voices heard, and to enact meaningful changes in their communities, their countries and their world. This year, we asked our network to share their first memory of Earth Day, and we received an outpouring of messages.

Here are five stories from people who first experienced Earth Day as a child, many of whom went on to become environmental leaders. The following stories were edited to fit EARTHDAY.ORG’s style guidelines.

A bridge over polluted waters

I can trace back my roots to when I became an environmentalist, and it was the year that the EPA was founded. In 1970, I was a fifth grade student in Sister Maureen’s class at St. Joseph’s School in Tucson, Arizona. Our class won a nationwide contest sponsored by Scholastic to raise environmental awareness. We wrote letters to officials, and I remember changing the words in Simon and Garfunkel’s hit, “A Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” to “A Bridge Over Polluted Waters.” Yes, it was before copyright infringement regulations and Weird Al Yankovic, but we were devastated at the time by images of rivers on fire, along with dead fish and birds on shorelines. What we were seeing at the time was not something we wanted to accept as normal, and we wanted to see change.

A very hungry litter caterpillar

My first Earth Day was 12 years ago when I was in first grade. The first grade classes collected recyclable items from their homes for about a month and a half. All the first graders constructed a huge caterpillar out of plastic, cardboard and other items that would have been discarded. It was a lot of fun to put it together with fellow classmates. I remember we even made some flowers and leaves out of the recycled materials. It was so big the news even came to our school! I’m now in my freshman year of college and I’m majoring in Environmental Science. I look forward to Earth Day because it’s an amazing day to advocate for conservation and global climate action.

Walking a mile (or a marathon) for the Earth

My first Earth Day was either in 1972 or 1973, so either the second- or third-ever Earth Day. I remember it fondly. Somehow, as a kid in junior high, I managed to walk a marathon-length course (26 miles) around the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I am a bit astounded to recall it, and am impressed with myself and my friends. If I recall correctly, we each collected donations for every mile we walked and donated those funds to, well, probably the Earth Day foundation. The purpose was to increase environmental awareness. It was also one of my first entries into my life-long passion for taking care of the environment. I proudly claim this story, just as I proudly identify as an environmentalist.

Pressing pause on pollution

My first Earth Day was the first Earth Day (in 1970)! I was 12 at the time and thrilled that taking responsibility for pollution was up to everyone. I got all my classmates to pledge to stop littering and clean up litter where they found it. We didn’t have recycling then for anything except newspapers, but soon recycling cans, then recycling glass started happening. I even talked my parents into getting a trash compactor for the kitchen. (It seemed like a good idea in the 70’s but soon needed to be abandoned as it made it more difficult for trash to break down). From that point on, I became deeply committed to doing all I could to walk gently on the Earth, educate others and do what I could to role model eco-responsibility and care for our non-human kin and ecosystems. I have worked for American Rivers, The Nature Conservancy and HawkWatch International. For the past 29 years I have given voice to the animals so that others can receive their wisdom. As an author, educator and speaker, it is my mission to help human beings become aware of our interconnectedness with all life.

Surprise school outside

I had my first Earth Day when I was about eight years old. In my school, we took a bunch of steps to reduce the consumption of electricity and water. At that time I was not that aware of global warming and climate change. When I went to the school, I was in shock that none of the lights of our school were working. When our classes began, our class teacher told us that the fans and air conditioners would not be switched on and that we would be having our classes in the school playground for about a week. I had no clue why it was happening but it was fun to imagine studying outside. We had a lot of fun during that week and we even got to plant new saplings on our campus. From then onwards, I got more conscious about saving electricity and water.

Earth Day serves as a reminder for us to make changes in our communities, as well as to hold leaders accountable for their commitments — or lack thereof — to climate action.

Though we have seen a forceful re-energizing of the movement as we begin to emerge from the COVID era, the urgency of what we need to do, NOW, cannot be overstated. We need everyone! Support Earth Day events happening all year by donating or becoming a member.

The post 5 people share what it meant to grow up with Earth Day appeared first on Earth Day.

In 1970, as a 25-year-old graduate student, Denis Hayes organized the first Earth Day. The resounding success of that event, which brought out 20 million Americans — 10 percent of the United States population at the time — helped spark the modern environmental movement. 

The decade that followed saw some of America’s most popular and powerful environmental legislation: updates to the Clean Air Act and the creation of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Fifty years later, we have different environmental challenges, some much larger, most notably global climate change. Despite the existential threat of climate change, today countries are rolling back environmental protections, failing to live up to the Paris Agreement and dragging their feet on climate action. Meanwhile, the environmental movement has gained momentum, thanks in no small part to an infusion of energy and outrage from the youth climate movement.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we talked with Denis Hayes, now president of the Bullitt Foundation and board chair emeritus at Earth Day Network. He reflected on the legacy of the first Earth Day, the environmental challenges we face today and the opportunities we still have to secure a sustainable future.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Earth Day Network: As Earth Day goes digital in the face of the pandemic, we’re delivering 24 hours of action online. From what I hear, you had an interesting whirlwind 24 hours of your own on the first Earth Day. Can you walk us through what April 22, 1970, looked like to you? 

Denis Hayes: Well, I started out in my incredibly drenched basement one-room apartment off Dupont Circle and walked down to the Mall in Washington, D.C., to join in a sunrise ceremony with Native Americans welcoming the sun to bless the day.

I then flew up to New York, where I addressed a massive crowd on Fifth Avenue. Mayor Lindsay had blocked off more than 40 blocks of Fifth Avenue, and we filled it up with demonstrators. There were also crowds at Union Square and a big event at Central Park and Manhattan — we went all out. I have to note that it was the most exciting crowd experience of my life by far until then: The sea of people was literally extending out over the visual horizon.

After that, I went to Chicago, with demonstrations organized mostly by [progressive community activist] Saul Alinsky, so it was much feistier than the New York event. I flew back to Washington, D.C., late that afternoon. I did press roundups of the day on a couple of national television shows and met most of Earth Day’s staff late at night for staff drinks and beer. We were settling down with exhaustion and feeling good about the way the day had gone.

EDN: The decade that followed the first Earth Day saw a cascade of environmental protection legislation, some of which are facing recent threats and rollbacks. What do we need to do to spark the next wave of protections for our environment?

DH: I’m not a mechanical determinist in politics, but there is something that has been as regular as a pendulum with the environment in America. The 1970s was a very pro-environment decade, when we were almost unstoppable for 10 years. That led into the 1980s and people whose names are synonymous with anti-environmental zealotry.

If there is a pendulum phenomenon, you might think that after the [current White House] administration, we will have a similar sort of backlash [to recent efforts to] undo 50 years of environmental progress. I think that will build up a fairly strong constituency, and if we pull our act together, we can mobilize to reverse anything and stop anything not yet completed.

The really big question is not so much how we’re going to protect the victories of the past, since they are hugely popular and very cost effective; it’s how we move into global issues, which we’ve been notoriously unsuccessful in figuring out ways to address. If it’s a national issue, you just pass a law and turn it over to an agency to regulate it — we can enforce it and take people to court. On a global issue, none of that is true.

EDN: That brings me to my next question. We were facing different battles back in 1970, but what lessons can we learn from the first Earth Day that we can apply to our fight today against global climate change?

DH: That first Earth Day was so important in part because we brought together a huge basket of different issues: urban air pollution, freeways cutting through neighborhoods, leaded paint, DDT, the Santa Barbara oil spill, rivers catching on fire. And since people will put the most effort into something that’s directly relevant to them, we were very much grassroots. We encouraged people who shared our values to get out and organize and do it within an Earth Day framework.

Similarly going forward, as you look at something like climate change, there are various different approaches to something akin to a Green New Deal. There are various different threats in different parts of the country. We have forest fires where I live, but we’ve never had a hurricane. And so, the things that will be relevant in one place will be very different in another. We need to have that latitude.

We are beginning to do a much better job in incorporating people of color, of talking about the economic disparities in American society. And if we’re going to restructure things, we need to do it in a fashion that will not produce dry-end gulfs between the ridiculously rich and the destitute. If there is a lesson, it’s this: That first Earth Day was a very big tent with a broad set of values that underpinned it. The tent has become narrower in ensuing decades, and while remaining firm in our values and goals and objectives, we need to be more welcoming.

EDN: I wanted to talk a little bit about the recent rise of the youth climate movement and one of their tactics: striking from school. Did that school strike tactic fit with or against the ways you organized and mobilized young people and students in the 1970s?

DH: We had huge numbers of participants from K-12 schools on the first Earth Day, and it did have objectives, though they tended not to be politically polarized objectives. We wanted clean air, we wanted clean water, we wanted to have the ability to eat our food without being contaminated with pesticides. And so, we had significant support from the National Education Association and the National Science Teachers Association and in thousands or tens of thousands of schools across the country.

The students were out doing things on Earth Day, but they didn’t have to strike, because the schools actually supported it. So, in that sense it was different from what we have today.

EDN: What do you see as the key legacy of the first Earth Day?

DH: The legacy of the first Earth Day was a fundamental restructuring of the American economy. The legislation of the 1970s was possibly the biggest change in how American industry operates in the nation’s history. Folks who had no concern whatsoever for pollution, for toxics disposal, for resource extraction, suddenly had to operate within ways that were benefiting public health and benefiting the environment.

The only other thing of a similar scale that has taken place in American history was the New Deal, and it’s up in the air which had the greatest, most enduring impact on the structure of American industry. But the New Deal was led by an enormously popular president coming out of the Great Depression with his party in control of both houses of Congress, whereas the environmental revolution was entirely grassroots. We had none of that on our side, but nonetheless, managed to achieve fairly sweeping ends.

I’d add to that a change in the way Americans perceive the world around them. In the 1960s, the most common perception of pollution was that it’s the smell of progress, the smell of prosperity. And we were able to create a context in which people began to change their behavior, their values, what cars they bought, what food they ate, what clothes they wore, making decisions to only have one or two children for environmental reasons. It was sweeping in the ways that millions of Americans led their lives.

EDN: What does a successful Earth Day 2070 look like? And what legacy do you hope to build as Earth Day heads in the next 50 years?

DH: Well, 50 years ago we did not have computers. We did not have an internet. We did not have smartphones. We did not have lithium ion batteries. We did not have electric automobiles. We did not have smart grids. If you start describing physically what the world will look like, unless you happen to be Jules Verne, you’re very likely to get it wrong.

But I do hope that what we have in 2070 is a world that is living within its limits. That is in ecological terms, not going well beyond its current capacity and suffering from overshoots from collapse is something that I fear is likely, but it shouldn’t be if we’re doing everything well. When we have things going well for the environment, Earth Days tend to be somewhat celebratory, and when you have things going wrong for the environment, then they tend to be protests against all of the things that are going wrong and that are harming people. I hope in 2070 we will be in a position to celebrate.

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There is no doubt that a vast number of animals and plants have gone extinct in recent centuries due to human activity, especially since the industrial revolution. [1] The number of individuals across species of plants and animals[2] has declined as well – in many cases severely – affecting genetic variation, biodiversity, among other issues.

All around the world, areas where humans exploit natural resources or undergo encroaching development all have the same outcome: a deteriorating natural environment. As a result of human action, ecosystems face threats such as unhealthy production and consumption; in today’s interconnected world, it doesn’t take much to see these unsustainable forces to take hold. [3]

This is a trend that cannot continue. If ecosystems are too severely depleted, their ability to remain replenish, sustain our species, and meet human needs is drastically threatened.

Many of us have seen images depicting open prairies covered by massive herds of bison that no longer exist, enormous flocks of birds congregated in marshes and lagoons that have seen their numbers reduced dramatically, or beautiful and impressive animals such as elephants, giraffes, and whales, which — in many cases — are in danger of becoming extinct.

Other people have cherished memories of less imposing animals that nonetheless bring deeply felt emotions, such as the sound of thousands of frogs croaking in the middle of the night, birds visiting a backyard feeder year after year, or millions of bats flying to their resting place at dusk. Others might remember that when traveling by car through the countryside, their car’s windshield ended up covered with hundreds of dead insects, which sadly was a signal of abundance that now hardly ever happens.

If you lived close to the ocean or spent much time there, you have probably heard that fish stocks have declined dramatically or read stories about whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals washing up dead on beaches, [4] occasionally in large numbers.

In the last decades, we have learned countless stories of new species of plants or animals being discovered in tropical forests across the globe, giving us a sense of wonder and possibility. At the same time, millions of acres of natural forests are being destroyed every year.

Let’s check some numbers: [5]

• The number of animals living on the land has fallen by 40% since 1970.[6]
• Marine animal populations have also fallen by 40% overall.[7]
• Overall, 40 percent of the world’s 11,000 bird species are in decline.[8]
• Animal populations in freshwater ecosystems have plummeted by 75% since 1970.[9]
• Insect populations have declined by 75% in some places of the world.[10]
• About a quarter of the world’s coral reefs have already been damaged beyond repair, and 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are at risk from local and global stresses.[11]
• It is estimated that humans have impacted 83% of Earth’s land surface, which has affected many ecosystems as well as the range in which specific species of wildlife used to exist. [12]

Developed nations have seen benefits in economic growth not only from the exploitation of their ecosystems and species, but from the exploitation of the ecosystems and species of undeveloped nations as well. [13] Currently, the biggest declines in animal numbers are happening in low-income, developing nations, mirroring declines in wildlife that occurred in wealthier nations long before. The last wolf in the UK was killed in 1680. [14] For instance, between 1990 and 2008, around a third of products that cause deforestation – timber, beef, and soya – were imported to the EU.[15]

Academics and others debate if we are already facing a new process of mass extinction, such as the ones the world has experienced over the millennia. But even if that is not the case, we know that thousands of species are endangered, and most land and sea flora and fauna have seen their numbers severely reduced, with few exceptions.

Many species have disappeared already and many more are following the same path. As reported by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), there have been 849 species that have disappeared in the wild since 1500 A.D.; most strikingly, this number greatly underestimates the thousands of species that disappeared before scientists were able to identify them. [16] Most troublingly, around 33% and 20% of amphibians and mammals are in danger of becoming extinct in the coming decades. [17]

We also know that some people have argued that species have disappeared before and how the current decline is just part of a natural process. But this conclusion is way off base. All other processes of global mass extinction in the history of the planet happened because of a catastrophic natural event. They were not the result of human intervention, as is the case for the current mass extinction. According to Peter Ward from the University of Washington, what we are experiencing today is strikingly similar to the dinosaur-killing event of 60 million years ago, when a planet already stressed by sudden changes in its climate was knocked into mass extinction by the impact of asteroids. [18] This mass extinction we are going through has been unfolding because of the intervention of a single species, us. Humans are having an outsized negative impact on all other species. Human activity has caused a dramatic reduction in the total number of species and the population sizes of specific species; thousand have already disappeared, and many more are threatened with extinction.

The marine extinction crisis is not as widely grasped as the crises in tropical forests and other terrestrial biomes. [19] We do not know how many species are in the ocean as the bulk of marine species are undiscovered. Therefore, we do not know how many have disappeared or how many are in danger of disappearing. Furthermore, we are also losing species or unique types within a species (for example a type of salmon), before we even know of them.

We know that overfishing is a major global concern. Current assessments cover only 20% of the world’s fish stocks, so the true state of most of the world’s fish populations is not clear. Although, recent findings suggest that those unstudied stocks are declining, [20] and nearly three-quarters of the world’s commercially fished stocks are overharvested and at risk.

Along with species extinction, the devastation of genetically unique populations and the loss of their genetic variation[21] leads to an irreversible biodiversity loss. The evidence all points to the unfolding of a global tragedy with permeant consequences.[22]

What is driving this process of extinction?

• Overexploitation of species either for human consumption, use, elaboration of byproducts, or for sport. [23]
• Habitat Loss: [24]
  • Habitat destruction: A bulldozer pushing down trees is the iconic image of habitat destruction. Other ways people directly destroy habitat include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees.
  • Habitat fragmentation: Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat has been cut up into fragments by roads and development. Aquatic species’ habitats have been fragmented by dams and water diversions. These fragments of habitat may not be large or connected enough to support species that need a large territory where they can find mates and food. Also, the loss and fragmentation of habitats makes it difficult for migratory species to find places to rest and feed along their migration routes.
  • Habitat degradation: Pollution, invasive species, and disruption of ecosystem processes (such as changing the intensity of fires in an ecosystem) are some of the ways habitats can become so degraded they can no longer support native wildlife.
• Climate Change:
  • As climate change alters temperature and weather patterns, it also impacts plant and animal life. Scientists expect that the number and range of species, which define biodiversity, will decline greatly as temperatures continue to rise.[25]
  • The burning of fossil fuels for energy and animal agriculture are two of the biggest contributors to global warming, along with deforestation. Livestock accounts for between 14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.[26] Those emissions come from cattle belches, intestinal gasses, and waste; the fertilizer production for feed crops; general farm associated emissions; and the process of growing feed crops. [27] According to research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project, animal waste releases methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouse gases that are much more potent than carbon dioxide. As people increase their level of income, they consume more meat and dairy products. The populations of industrial countries consume twice as much meat as those in developing countries.[28] Worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last ten years. This information suggests that we should cut back on our consumption of meat and dairy. “The privilege we have over these animals, it would appear, now comes at a hefty price [to the planet].”[29]

• The spread of non-native species around the world; a single species (us) taking over a significant percentage of the world’s physical space and production; and, human actions increasingly directing evolution.[30]
  • The first factor is also known as the global homogenization of flora and fauna. Biotic homogenization[31] is an emerging, yet pervasive, threat in the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Originally, ecologists defined biotic homogenization as the replacement of native species by exotics or introduced species, but this phenomenon is now more broadly recognized as the process by which ecosystems lose their biological uniqueness and uniformity grows.[32] As global transportation becomes faster and more frequent, it is inevitable that species intermixing will increase. When unique local flora or fauna become extinct, they are often replaced by already widespread flora or fauna that is more adapted to tolerate human activities. This process is affecting all aspects of our natural world. For example, we grow the same crops anywhere in the world at the expense of the local varieties that in many cases disappear; introduce animals into places where they did not exist, and often do not have natural enemies, becoming a plague, such as rats introduced to the Galapagos Islands; or destroy other species that cannot defend themselves from the new predator, such as in Guam where over the years ten of Guam’s twelve original forest bird species have been lost due to the introduction of the brown tree snake.[33] Biological homogenization qualifies as a global environmental catastrophe. The Earth has never witnessed such a broad and complete reorganization of species distribution, in which animals and plants (and other organisms for that matter) have been translocated on a global scale around the planet.
  • Over the last few centuries, humans have essentially become the top predator not only on land, but also across the sea. In doing so, humanity has begun using 25-40% of the planet’s net primary production for its own. [34] As we keep expanding our use of land and resources, the capacity of species to survive is constantly reduced.
  • Humanity has become a massive force in directing evolution. This is most apparent, in the domestication of animals and the cultivation of crops over thousands of years. But humans are directing evolution in numerous other ways as well, manipulating genomes by artificial selection and molecular techniques, and indirectly by managing ecosystems and populations to conserve them, said co-author Erle Ellis, an expert on the Anthropocene with the University of Maryland. He added that even conservation is impacting evolution.[35]
• Other: In countries around the world, policies have been enacted that have led to extinction or near extinction of specific species, such large predators in the US and Europe. Also, chemical products associated with agriculture or other productive processes have affected many species such as honeybees and other pollinators.

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