Happy Earth Day, one and all.

Given the occasion, here is a very brief history of Earth Day.

As it turns out, April 22 is one of two Earth days, the first one being on the Spring Equinox.  Yet, April 22 is the popular one.  This may be because  Earth Day has been somewhat of a force in bringing global communications together in mainstream forums surrounding the issue of sustainability in the face of environmental degradation.

The global observance of Earth Day is  an incredible achievement on the part of those who made it a recognized date on the calendar.  And it proves that a cooperative spirit is truly indomitable when driven by passion for the issues and when empowered by technology.

The first Earth Day was on this day in 1970, when a U.S Senator Gaylord Nelson decided to conduct a teach-in surrounding the burgeoning environmental crisis. It was initially thought that if the student population could focus their energies on the state of the environment in the same way that they were focusing it on anti-Vietnam War efforts, it would be possible to promote change in industry and mainstream culture as a whole.

The result of this was coast-to-coast protests surrounding toxic dumping, oil spills, pesticides, and other rising problems facing modern life which certainly had an  immediate impact on the state of the environment.

By the early 1990s, Earth Day was a major force in driving awareness in the recycling movement, something which we now engage in as a matter of course.  Earth Day was also a mobilizing event which paved the way for the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio De Janero in 1992.

In our current decade, Earth Day is an agreed-upon date for many cooperative efforts as implemented by scores of environmental groups globally.  The technology involved ranged from the dynamic use of the Internet, to talking drum chains that spanned a continent. Yet, the technology is secondary.  Earth Day seems to have engaged a spirit of cooperation.

It is easy to become discouraged by the sheer weight of the problems we face when tackling global climate change.  And yet, Earth Day stands as something of a symbol, representing hope, and also unity across many cultures with whom we share a planet.

For more information about Earth Day events this year, please visit the Earth Day Network.

Cheers,

Rob.