World Earth Day is celebrated by residents of the Northern Hemisphere on the day of the spring equinox, and the Southern Hemisphere on the day of the autumn equinox. Despite this difference, the holiday falls on one date - 20 or 21. It all depends on the length of the tropical year - the time interval between two equinoxes of the same name, which does not coincide with the duration of calendar years. That is why the moment of the equinox every year forward by almost 6 hours and can fall on two adjacent dates.

In the years zero, the vernal equinox fell three times on March 21 (2003, 2007, 2011). In other years, it came on March 20.

The day of celebration was not chosen by chance. It falls on the date when the Earth is in such a position with respect to the Sun that both hemispheres from the poles to the equator are heated approximately equally, and the duration of night and day is almost equal throughout the world. This was done to draw attention to the global problems of the planet, its value and vulnerability. In the equilibrium and balance of the equinox lies the symbolism of Earth Day.

Even the ancient scientists of India, China, and Egypt were well aware of the days of the equinox. At that time, these days were considered a very big holiday. However, in the modern world, some countries attach special importance to this astronomical event. So, Muslims on the day of the spring equinox celebrate Navruz - a holiday that symbolizes the beginning of spring, prosperity and growth.

From the day of the vernal equinox, the seasons of the year change in the hemispheres: astronomical spring comes in the Northern, and autumn in the Southern, which lasts until June 21. This day is the summer solstice.

How Earth Day is celebrated

Earth Day was first celebrated on March 21, 1970. Every year on this day, the Peace Bell can be heard at the UN Headquarters in New York. It begins to make sounds exactly at the moment of the beginning of the equinox. The first time he rang on this occasion was March 21, 1971. John McConnell also initiated this event.

The meaning of the ceremony lies in the fact that for one minute, while the bell rings, people can think about what they can do to save the Earth, as well as realize themselves as its children and improve the life of all life on the planet.

Raising the flag of the Earth is another obligatory component of the celebration of this day. By the way, the flag of the planet was also invented by John McConnell in 1970. It is a photograph of the Earth taken from space.

Earth Day in Russia

In Russia, a bell ceremony is also held on this day. It has been held since 1998 at the initiative of the Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Anatoly Berezovoy. The ceremony takes place at the International Center of the Roerichs, which is located in Moscow, in Maly Znamensky Lane. Over time, Earth Day began to be celebrated in other Russian cities.

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April 22 is Earth Day, an international holiday. This time can be spent both celebrating and having fun, or making decisions about what you can do for the environment.

Short story

For the first time, Earth Day was celebrated twice in 1970: on April 21 and 22. The organizers of this holiday were John McConnell and US Senator Gaylord Nelson.

Over time, the holiday has become more popular. In 1992, a summit dedicated to the environment was held in Rio de Janeiro. The conference, organized by the UN, was held from 3 to 14 June.

By this time, millions of people around the world recognized and began to celebrate this holiday. Earth Day is dedicated to nature, discussing environmental issues, exploring the possibilities of saving the planet from the harmful effects of people, conveying a message to the world that the planet should be taken care of.

What should Earth Day do?

Think about how you live. Are the decisions you make in line with your lifestyle? And if not, what can be done to make it happen? It's up to you to help the environment. There are many ways to do this. What should be your focus next year? What are some of your strengths that you can use to get others to be more mindful of nature?

If you are a leader by nature, you can become the very lever that will inspire others to take action. Or you can lead by setting a good example.

What issues do you know least about? Learn about the most pressing environmental issues and direct your efforts to solve them. Devote this day to decisions that will affect the entire next year. Another way to celebrate Earth Day is to have fun, communicate,.

Where is Earth Day celebrated?

Earth Day celebrations are held in many countries of the world: USA, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Australia, Mongolia, Philippines, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uzbekistan.

In many large cities, the celebration is not limited to one day, but stretches over a week. Earth Week usually runs from April 16 to April 22.

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(English) Earthday) - every year, on April 22, people all over the planet celebrate Earth Day. This holiday has become a universal symbolic holiday of love and care for our common home and is celebrated all over the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The event was first organized by the Earth Day Network. On this day, in different parts of the world, people who are not indifferent to environmental problems hold events aimed at making the world more clean and responsible.

There are two main periods for the event: in March (closer to the spring equinox) and April 22. In addition, the initiative groups are currently planning and conducting a series of Earth Day activities closer to the summer solstice to make the most of the warm weather and people's free time.

History. John Sterling Morton of Nebraska (USA) is considered the founder of Earth Day, who, at a meeting of the State Department of Agriculture, being Secretary of the Territory, proposed in 1872 to appoint an annual day dedicated to the landscaping of the surrounding area. The proposal was approved and received widespread support from the people of the state. In 1882, Tree Day was declared a state holiday by the Nebraska government on April 22.

On April 22, 1970, in New York (USA), the well-known American politician and activist Senator Gaylord Nelson created a group of students led by Dennis Hayes (a Harvard student), who for the first time organized a national holiday - Earth Day. Since it was a time of active student movements, the initiative attracted a lot of attention. Its participants suggested that ordinary ordinary Americans pay attention to the environmental problems of our time and try to protect the green planet through joint efforts. A year later, a state agency for environmental protection was created in the United States, today it is quite active and has close contacts with government agencies in most countries, including Ukraine.

In 1971, due to the success of the first Day, Senator Nelson proclaimed "Earth Week" (during the 3rd week of April) as an annual event that became extremely popular among the US population. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his work.

The holiday was declared international in 1990. At the initiative of the American Stanford University, the 1990s was proclaimed the "Decade of the Environment". This action has received support in more than 120 countries of the world, and more than 40 countries have joined forces to carry out a campaign to preserve biological diversity. On this holiday, every inhabitant of the planet can make a small contribution to the protection of the environment: clear the surrounding area of ​​garbage, plant at least one tree, refuse to use a car for at least a day.

The event began to be celebrated in Ukraine as a day for the protection of nature, a day of actions in order to attract public attention to the problems of our planet.

In 2009, the UN General Assembly proclaimed International Mother Earth Day, deciding to celebrate it on April 22.

Planet earth logo. The flag of the Earth is not an official symbol of anything (since there is no official planetary government or state). It is a photograph of the planet from space (currently the image taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts on their way to the Moon) against a dark blue background. Traditionally, the Flag is associated with Earth Day and other environmental, peacekeeping and civil international events.

The symbol of the day is the green Greek letter Θ (Theta) on a white background.

Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week with a full week of events focused on addressing the environmental challenges facing the world.

Earth Day is now globally coordinated and celebrated in over 193 countries every year.

Photo: iStock/Global Images Ukraine

The initiative members of the UN again came up with a new holiday for all earthlings. This time we are talking about Earth Day, which is celebrated on our planet on March 20th. True, with a small caveat. In fact, two holidays with the same name can be found on the calendar at once, one of which is a UN initiative that falls on the day of the vernal equinox, and the second -.

Two holidays, one goal

In fact, Earth Day 2019 at the UN and the second holiday dedicated to the planet have two different tasks, but, nevertheless, they have a common essence. The first holiday comes out with a peacekeeping mission and plans to reconcile all earthlings, and the second with an ecological one and also puts the world at the forefront, but this time earthlings with mother nature.

History of creation

As mentioned above, Earth Day on March 20 was chosen by the UN not by chance and falls on the day of the vernal equinox. That is exactly what the UN Assembly assessors decided in 1971. It turns out that on this day, not only day equals night, but also great changes occur in the biorhythm of the planet, nature gradually wakes up and renews itself, and a new round in the development of the Earth takes place. And that means all of humanity. As stated in the official UN resolution, which embodies the Earth Day holiday, March 20 is an unusual day, and together with the renewal of nature, people, as an integral part of it, should think on a global scale that we cannot live without the Earth, and it is calm without us cost. We must understand this and live with nature in peace and harmony. This means that an endless arms race, local conflicts and the barbaric use of the planet's resources should not be at the head of the existence of mankind.

First Earth Day

The Earth Day holiday was invented by the American public figure John Morton. He was clearly ahead of his time, because he declared the importance of a planetary, unifying day back in 1840. He was not a demagogue and did not start all this for populist reasons. He immediately began to implement his idea and organized a campaign aimed at replenishing natural resources. I started with a simple one - planted trees and shrubs. Later, when John came to success and led Nebraska, he made an annual day of gardening and it's not about dollars at all. The new holiday, or rather Earth Day of the late 19th century, was called Tree Day and gained great popularity among Nebraska residents. The very first holiday from a simple tree planting campaign grew into a mass social movement that still exists today. Moulton's ideas developed throughout the twentieth century and embodied in the idea of ​​the UN in 1970, when earth day received an official registration in the international calendar of important dates.

Earth is our home

There are two ideas of globalism in the world and, what is most interesting, people from both camps oppose each other. The first idea is a global market, economy, multinational companies, gigantic production and the transformation of the Earth's resources into a source of trade and income. On the other hand, they are the same globalists, but advocating the rejection of modern, barbaric strategies that are devastating the planet. They stand for the Earth as one big global home, where there should be enough space for life, and therefore resources for everyone. These globalists, and in fact anti-globalists, are sharply against money, the increase in capital, the suffering of some for the sake of the interests of others. In fact, these are idealists who come forward with revolutionary ideas as old as the world that have been hovering in society for the past few hundred years.

To the world - the world, to the Earth - the earth

The struggle for global peace throughout the world and for everyone in the world, as it is logical to assume, is peaceful. On Earth Day, different cities host environmental exhibitions, conferences, historical forums and various other events that unite people under a common denominator. They remember the very first traditions that have gone since the Day of the Tree, and continue the glorious work of John Morton, planting trees, restoring soil structure and cleaning rivers from pollution.

For whom the Bell Tolls?

Another Earth Day tradition that dates back to 2008 is to ring the peace bell. It brings people together, emphasizing their homogeneity, solidarity and community. The ringing of the bell sounds like a call to action, like a command for the inhabitants of the Earth that it is time to pay attention to the problems of our common home. The very first peace bell was cast in memory of the bombing of Japanese cities. The material for it was coins collected by children from all over the world. On this bell is engraved an inscription that should be carried through the minds of people along with its ringing - long live world peace, universal and indestructible.

In the spring, twice a year, many countries celebrate a very important holiday - World Earth Day. It was approved in 1971 by the decision of the UN. The chairman of this organization at that time was U Thant, who signed a special appeal to all the peoples of our planet. The first time this holiday is celebrated on March 21. On this day, in most countries, the sounds of the Peace Bell are heard, which calls on people to protect nature and life on the planet, as well as to mutual understanding and friendship between peoples.

How is it celebrated anyway? It must be admitted that not everyone knows when Earth Day is celebrated and how it appeared. It is about him, about traditions and celebration, that will be discussed in this article.

Founder of the holiday

The second Earth Day, celebrated in April, is not so solemn, but it can be called an ecological holiday with full confidence. It originated in the 19th century in the USA. Its initiator was the administrator, who later became the Minister of Agriculture in Nebraska, J. Sterling Morton. It is worth noting that the lands in this area were endless prairies, and occasionally groves that came across were mercilessly cut down. The wood was used by the locals to build and heat houses.

Morton, who came to Nebraska in 1840, put forward a proposal to green the state. For this purpose, a holiday was established, which was called the Day of the Tree. In addition, a prize was awarded. It was given to the person who planted the most trees. The celebration took place in April 1872. In just one day, approximately 1 million trees were planted by the inhabitants of the state. 10 years later, in 1882, the Nebraska authorities established an official holiday - Tree Day and began to celebrate it every year on April 22 (this is the date of Morton's birth).

international significance

Previously, many countries had their own, local holidays, when people took to the streets and planted trees and flowers together, thereby decorating their cities and towns. There are examples when initiated actions in one country acquired international significance. This is what happened with Earth Day. When it is celebrated simultaneously in many countries, it automatically becomes universally recognized. Therefore, this holiday acquired international significance in 1970, when on one day more than 20 million people took part in environmental events organized around the world. Despite this, it was not until 1990 that April 22 was declared International Earth Day. Since then, it has been officially celebrated in many countries, including Russia.

History of the Peace Bell

The Earth Day holiday has its own traditions. Perhaps the main one is the ringing of the Peace Bell. He calls on all people to think about the preservation, protection and enhancement of the beauty of our planet, as well as to feel at least for a while a commonality with each other. The Peace Bell is a symbol of friendship and solidarity between nations. He calls for the preservation of life, since the future of not only the planet, but also our children depends on this.

The Peace Bell first appeared in the courtyard of the UN Headquarters in the summer of 1954. It was made in Japan. The material for it was coins collected by children in 60 different countries. It is located under the arch of a structure made of cypress wood and reminiscent of a Shinto shrine. On the Bell there is an inscription: "Long live universal peace throughout the world." At the end of the last century, its analogues were installed in many countries: in Austria and Poland, Germany and Australia, Canada and Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, Japan and Mongolia, Ecuador and the Philippines.

In Russia, the first Peace Bell was installed in 1988 in St. Petersburg, on the territory of a park named after academician A. D. Sakharov.

Symbols

It seems that many will be surprised to learn about this fact. In addition to the many flags by which one or another country can be identified, there is also a symbol of the Earth. It is a photograph of our planet with you on a dark blue background. To do this, they usually use a picture that was taken by the American astronauts of the Apollo 17 spacecraft when they flew to the moon. It should be noted that the flag of the Earth is an unofficial symbol, since a planetary state or government simply does not exist.

But according to the established tradition, this flag can be seen not only on Earth Day. When similar international events are celebrated, aimed at protecting the environment, as well as maintaining peace, it is also used as a symbol.

Another sign associated with this holiday is the green Greek letter θ (theta) set on a white background. It was invented by Gaylord Nelson in 1971.

Unique planet

As it turned out, our Earth is a true miracle. On its surface, there are various contrasts that can serve as a museum of both the distant past and the rapidly changing present, as well as the future. The planet simultaneously presents all the stages of its formation over millions of years, from the boiling bowels of volcanoes to the mysterious death of the once prosperous ancient civilizations.

Maybe at this very time, somewhere off the coast of Iceland, under the unimaginable pressure of an underwater volcanic eruption, in fire and puffs of steam, a completely new island rises from the ocean depths. Now it is completely lifeless and even microbes do not yet inhabit its hot surface. Our Earth was the same at the moment of its birth billions of years ago. This piece of the planet still has everything ahead: the first bacteria and herbs, birds and animals.

At the same time, thousands of kilometers away, on the other hemisphere, the remains of majestic buildings carved from stone of a long-vanished civilization have been preserved. The columns of the temples of Luxor (Egypt) make a truly stunning impression. But life here has already irretrievably gone, and only hot winds blowing from the side of the Sahara desert are in charge here and gradually exude ancient stones, once processed by human hands.

Ecology

Earth Day is rightfully considered a holiday of clean water, air and earth - everything without which life on the planet would be impossible. It could have appeared no earlier than in the last century, since only then scientists were able to determine what threat the total destruction of natural resources poses. The realization of what could happen to humanity in the next 300-400 years made us think about the future. It turned out that the planet is not eternal, and the threat to all living things lies precisely in the people themselves.

destructive activity

World Earth Day is very important today. The destructive impact of human activity on nature has become truly catastrophic. It leaves ugly scars on the surface of our planet. Here are just a few of them:

- Aral Sea. One of the largest lakes in the world, it resembles a desert strewn with the remains of rusty ships. The reckless irrigation projects of the USSR at the beginning of the 20th century, along which the course of the main rivers of the Amudarya and Syrdarya region were changed, practically put an end to it.

The rainforests of the Amazon. More than 600 thousand sq. km of selva, and this area is almost 2 times larger than the territory of Great Britain, has been gradually destroyed since the 70s of the last century.

Chernobyl disaster. The world's largest nuclear accident occurred in 1986. Its radioactive emissions have contaminated vast areas in Russia, Eastern and Western Europe. It caused hundreds of thousands of premature deaths between 1986 and 2004.

These and other terrible catastrophes are gradually destroying the ecological balance of the planet. Therefore, it needs our protection, and everyone should make their own contribution to this cause.

Celebration in Russia

For the first time Earth Day in our country was celebrated in 1998 and it was held in Moscow. It was organized by the International Museum of Nicholas Roerich, the Federation of Cosmonautics, as well as other public organizations and foundations. Now the Peace Bells have been installed in different cities of the country, and it has already become a tradition to celebrate Earth Day in Russia. The date of its holding is most often not March 21, but when the trees are already beginning to bloom - April 22.

The older generation, who lived in the USSR, perfectly remembers the events held on this day. They were called communist subbotniks. They were dedicated to the birthday of V. I. Lenin, which was exactly April 22. If you look, it was a good tradition. During the subbotnik, most people took to the streets. They cleaned the yards of their houses, planted trees, flowers and shrubs, and also put things in order in the nearby parks and squares.

Communist subbotniks sunk into oblivion in the early 90s of the last century. And it's a pity, since it would be possible to simply rename them and dedicate all good deeds to a new holiday called Earth Day. The date of its holding and subbotniks completely coincided, and it is always necessary to clean up and plant greenery in your city. But, unfortunately, now it is almost impossible to persuade the residents of houses to go out at least for a couple of hours once a year to clean near their entrances and plant trees or flowers near them.

It has always been said in Russia that a person has fully fulfilled his destiny on this earth if he was able to build a house, plant a tree and raise a son. One way or another, but everyone lives somewhere, raises children and has a dacha or a garden where they plant something. Why is it impossible to allocate at least an hour or two a year in order to decorate the area near your home?

parks day

But not only planting trees can be celebrated on April 22 - Earth Day. In many cities of Russia, it is also called differently - Park Day. Various promotions take place during the event. They consist in cleaning parks, squares and beaches.

Yards adjacent to high-rise buildings are no exception. It's no secret that many yards are buried in piles of household waste that utilities do not have time to clean up. If you think about it, it costs nothing for each of us to clean up after ourselves the garbage, having rested in the forest, park or on the beach. After all, it is not in vain that there is a common truth - purely not where they sweep, but where they do not litter.