Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22nd to demonstrate support for environmental protection and to create an awareness of how our actions impact the planet. First celebrated fifty years ago in 1970 by 22 million Americans passionately committed to protecting the environment, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries. While our Earth Day celebration this year may not be as immersive as in previous years, we can still reflect, react and resolve to support the future of our magnificent planet.
Learn more about it through the following websites and books:
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert – This Pulitzer Prize Winning book about the future of the planet blends intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World, by Peter Wohlleben – Did you know that trees in the forest are social beings that communicate and protect each other? After reading this book you will regard trees with a a renewed sense of wonder.
The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go From Here, by Hope Jahren (audiobook) – The author, an award-winning scientist and a brilliant writer, illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet.
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, by Jonathan Safran Foer (audiobook) – The author explores the central global dilemma of our time in a novel and deeply personal way. The task of saving the planet will ultimately involve a great reckoning with ourselves and our all-too-human reluctance to sacrifice immediate comfort for the sake of the future.
Featured image by April Mendez