Earth Day: 15 photos that show how our planet is being destroyed

Under the slogan “Let’s get the Earth back”, this April 22, Earth day, the demand on society is to commit to working hard to restore the planet and make peace with nature.

According to Antonio Gutierres, secretary of the The United Nations, currency this year highlights the importance of biodiversity to human health, because in the midst of the pandemic, it may be part of the solution: a rich diversity of species hinders the rapid spread of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens.

The first demonstration for the Earth took place on April 22, 1970, promoted by the senator and environmental activist Gaylord nelson, for the creation of an environmental agency. Two thousand universities, ten thousand schools and hundreds of communities participated.

The social pressure of this fact had its achievements and the government of United States created the Environmental Protection Agency (Environmental Protection Agency) and a series of laws aimed at protecting the environment.

Based on United Nations Environment Program, every four months, a new infectious disease appears in humans and 75% of them are of animal origin. “It shows the close relationships between human, animal and environmental health,” they say.

Kathleen rogers, president of the organization Earth Day in Washington He said that in a day like today, a public commitment must be established to take action related to the environment.

“Engaging with the ideas promoted by the Earth Day platform means educating friends and family about global warming or buying green products such as energy saving light bulbs,” he added.

Although many scholars believe that society still has time to “save the world”, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment raised a series of possible scenarios for the year 2050 in the event of non-action for the good of the Earth.

This assessment considers that there will be more cultivated land than forests, especially in developing countries, and that aquatic biodiversity will decline. through overfishing, invasion of exotic species and pollution of rivers and seawater.

The loss of biodiversity will affect human well-being with sudden environmental changes, therefore the number of fish can decrease drastically, there would be floods, droughts, forest fires or new diseases.

The evaluation also considers that the lack of water and food, in the long term, will generate confrontation between people. To avoid this, “the focus should be on maintaining a balance in the presence of cropland, fish, and forest and mountain management.”

Although the coronavirus poses a risk to public health and the global economy, the HIM-SHE-IT It is proposed to underline the damage it causes to biological diversity and the importance of the latter for the continuity of the human species.

The United Nations has declared that “despite current efforts, the world’s biodiversity is deteriorating at a rate unprecedented in human history”.

According to UN data, it is estimated that around one million animal and plant species are currently in danger of extinction.

The actions that the UN considers essential to help in this fight are: turn off the taps, turn off unnecessary lights, buy local and seasonal products, reduce the use of all kinds of plastics; make compost; prefer fresh air to air conditioning, shelter to heating; organize teleconferences instead of face-to-face conferences; rethink our diet and our relationship with animals.

Several institutions at a date like today’s have the writer in mind Eduardo Galeano, because of his phrase “Lots of little people, in small places, doing little things, can change the world.”

Regarding climate change, in several regions of the world, it has not rained for weeks, causing a great drought and the lack of water in rivers.

Despite the number of “habits” that should be “changed”, the Earth continues to give beautiful postcards of its landscapes, whether at sea, in the mountains, and even in certain fields.

“The recovery of The Covid-19 pandemic offers the world the opportunity to embark on a cleaner, greener and more sustainable path, ”leaves the UN as a message of ambition and hope.