The earth day is commemorated on 22^nd April world over with several events. Every year, it comes as a reminder of things that have come to be and things that can be with respect to environment, and what can we as earthlings do to protect our earth better. This year’s theme is “protect our species” with the agenda of raising awareness about rate of extinction of species.

The earth day celebrations were first initiated in 1970 by a US Senator from Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson. He proposed the initiative after having witnessed the enormous oil spill of Santa Barbara, California in 1969.

The Infamous Oil Spill

The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 sent approximately 3 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean leading to a complete overhaul of the oil and gas exploratory methods in California. It created 35 miles long oil slick along California’s coast killing thousands of birds, fish and sea mammals.

Until then it was America’s worst oil spill which was a result of inadequate safety measures adopted by the Unocal (Union Oil). The establishment had received a waiver from the U.S. Geological Survey which allowed it to build a protective casing around the drilling hole. However, this drilling hole was short by 61 feet of the minimum federal requirement. The upshot of this was a powerful explosion which cracked the sea floor in five places, with crude oil spewing out of the rupture for at least a month at a rate of 1,000 gallons an hour before any efforts to mitigate could have been deployed. The California shore was now a scene of oil carnage with black beaches, birds with oil plastered feathers, and the corpses of dolphins and seals washing in with tides.

In the aftermath of oil spill, the region became ground zero for environment movement and significant conservation efforts. New federal policies were chalked up which investigated disaster mitigation through checks and balances being established for companies, who were now required to pay towards oil spill cleanup costs, coupled with penalties of up to $35 million. Consequently, the then American President Richard Nixon signing the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969, making the environmental impact reports mandatory; followed by the California Environmental Quality Act, laws regulating air and water pollution, legislation protecting endangered species and coastal areas etc.- all adopted in 1970.

Finally, with these new set of environment regulations, ground was also set for environment activists with prominent faces such as those of the Wisconsin based Senator to advocate the nation’s first Earth Day. Spearheaded by growing grassroots environmentalists, the earth day was celebrated in 1970, which went global in 1990.

Present Day…

In many ways, 2019 closely resonates with 1969 when it comes to environment protection. The situation of course is much more severe now, with number of species of both flora and fauna going extinct. If earlier an oil spill endangered the marine life, today we have mass deforestation, pollution (air, soil or water), natural resource depletion, rise in GHG emissions, global warming, climate change, flash floods etc. becoming the main anti-heroes.

Some of the glaring examples include:

• Deforestation is worsening the endangered status of red pandas
• Asiatic wild dogs, who overpowered the leopard population in Western Ghats of India, are also on brink of extinction due to deforestation
• The largest freshwater turtle Yangtze giant softshell turtle is walking towards sunset, with only three of the species left in the world. It is known to have inhabited Yangtze river in China and the red river flowing from southern China to northern Vietnam.
• The Gangetic soft shell turtles are also endangered as they are subject to sand mining in Chambal river and also because they are poached for their soft meat.
• Worldwide population of bees is also under severe threat from the use of pesticides, GMOs, climate change, habitat loss, pests, and disease.
• Giraffes, the population of world’s tallest mammals declining from 155,000 in 1985 to just 80,000 in 2018. This is because their main source of food Acacia trees are under threat from climate change followed by habitat loss. Next, they are also poached for their tails and meat, and hunted as trophies.
• Ocean acidification is leading to coral reef depletion. While 35% have been destroyed, 65% are under serious threat.
• Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos—species of great apes are again under serious threat due to loss of habitat from deforestation of palm trees for agriculture, logging and development; droughts, rainfall and fire from climate change; and illegal trade and captivity.
• Biodiversity has further reduced due to incessant use of pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers coupled with introduction of invasive species.

Thus, this 49^th Earth Day brings to forefront the issue of environment conservation with respect to species extinction. With each passing year the earth, its climatic conditions and overall physiology is changing which is adversely affecting the flora and fauna of the planet. As humans we too are part of this animal kingdom and will ultimately be affected by such severity of our environment. therefore, making it, all the more, pertinent for us to take care of the planet, its resources, flora and fauna.