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Earth Day DFW Airport

About Earth Day

Bringing awareness to the environment

Why do we celebrate Earth Day?

Recognized in the United States on April 22 every year, Earth Day is a day of celebration through environmental education, awareness and action.
According to earthday.org, each Earth Day can drive a year of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to create a new plan of action for our planet.
This year’s theme – Planet vs. Plastics – calls for the full elimination of single use plastics by the end of this decade, tasking government leaders, businesses, and everyday people to reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040.
earth north america

10 interesting facts about Earth Day

  • More than 20 million people participated in the first Earth Day
Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970, shutting down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue as people demonstrated and participated in street clean-ups.
  • Earth Day is on April 22 because of college schedules
Falling on a weekday between spring break and final exams, the April 22 date for Earth Day was largely dictated by the schedules of the college students organizers were hoping to attract.
  • Earth Day was created by a senator
In January 1969, Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic senator had the idea to launch a nationwide, environmentally-focused teach-in on college campuses.
  • The idea for Earth Day came after a series of environmental catastrophes
Denis Hayes, a young activist and one of the organizers behind the first Earth Day, felt that while there were a number of groups in the U.S. working on different environmental issues they had never worked in conjunction.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency was created after the first Earth Day
After witnessing the huge participation in Earth Day demonstrations across the country, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which regulates mechanisms to protect the environment.
  • Organizers are trying to have the biggest Earth Day cleanup event in history in 2024
For Earth Day 204, earthday.org is working with Malaysian organizations to host the largest cleanup in Earth Day history, with at least 100,000 volunteers cleaning up the beaches and forests in the country while planting more than 1 million trees.
  • Tens of millions of trees have been planted on Earth Day
To combat the lost of Some 18 million acres of forest are lost every year due to deforestation, the Canopy Project says it has planted tens of millions of trees around the world since 2010.
  • Earth Day went global in 1990
Enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, urban dwellers and farmers, business and labor leaders, Earth Day went global in 1990 after a group of environmental leaders mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries.
  • The Paris Agreement opened for signature on Earth Day
In 2016 the most significant international climate accord in history, The Paris Agreement, was opened for signature by more than 190 countries, all of whom agreed to reduce carbon emissions and carry out other actions to reduce climate change.
  • United Automobile Workers union played a role in making Earth Day possible
The United Automobile Workers (UAW) union was by far the largest contributor to the first Earth Day, and its support went beyond the merely financial, printing and mailing all materials at its expense — even those critical of pollution-belching cars.
By Solcyré Burga and Simmone Shah – April 21, 2024 – TIME.com
NASA Earth Day 2024 Poster

Water Touches Everything

The ocean holds about 97 percent of Earth’s water and covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface and according to the United Nations, the ocean may be home to 50 to 80 percent of all life on Earth.
Download this year’s ocean themed Earth Day Poster from NASA and learn about the science behind the artwork!
Even if you live hundreds of miles from a coast, what happens in the ocean is fundamental to your life.
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nasa water touches everything poster