7 things we’ve learned about Earth since
the last Earth Day
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| 7 things we’ve learned about Earth since the last Earth Day |
We continue to shape life on Earth, and threaten our survival, in unexpected ways.
It’s Earth Day, and Google is celebrating with a Google Doodle of six amazing creatures to remind us we are not separate from nature (this year’s theme is Protect Our Species).
This Earth Day arrives at a sobering moment. The world is warming faster than ever. The oceans are rising. Thousands of migrants are fleeing environmental disasters. Taxpayers are paying billions to rebuild communities after climate-linked wildfires and hurricanes destroyed them. The Trump administration is unraveling policies designed to protect our health and environment at a stunning pace.
At the same time, new voices are helping us see and understand the urgency of the crisis before us, focusing us on what we need to do (i.e. get off fossil fuels). A fresh wave of young environmental activists are taking to the streets to strike for a safe climate. From classrooms to courtrooms to Congress members pushing the Green New Deal, an ambitious new suite of tactics are being deployed to defend the environment.
This Earth Day, it’s worth taking stock of what we keep learning about the spinning world we inhabit and how we’re responding to crises at hand. In keeping with the tradition started by former Vox writers Brad Plumer and Joseph Stromberg, here are seven of the coolest, most intriguing, and most alarming things we’ve learned about the Earth since the last Earth Day.
) Kids today face a truly frightening climate future — and they’re mad as hell at adults for neglecting the problem
Many people under the age of 18 right now may be around to see the end of the century. And a growing number of them are not pleased with the climate they’re inheriting. Our current trajectory puts the planet on course to warm by 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, creating a world that will be devastated by disasters, droughts, disease, and food shortages.
In March of this year, students in more than 120 countries went on strike from school to demand action on climate change. These climate strikes are part of a youth-led climate activism movement, with another global strike planned for May 24. Here’s Irene Kananura of Kampala, Uganda who was striking this past Friday in the heat:
Every year, we let roughly the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza in plastic to flow into the ocean, where it breaks down into small chunks or particles and accumulates in sea animals large and small.
Every year, we let roughly the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza in plastic to flow into the ocean, where it breaks down into small chunks or particles and accumulates in sea animals large and small.
We only recycle about 9 percent of the plastic we produce, and even that tiny fraction is under threat. China, the world’s largest recyclable plastic importer, began to slash its intake last year. The move has rippled throughout the world. It’s already forced some recycling programs in the United States to shut down entirely.