World Earth Day Images For Students

World Earth Day Images For Students

An estimated 20 million Americans took part in the first Earth Day protests, across the US, spurred on by a devastating oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, the year before.

The campaign was led by the Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson, in Washington DC, but individuals and communities organised their own demonstrations right across the US. In the end, the event proved to be far larger than expected. Congress was adjourned (suspended) to allow politicians to participate and Fifth Avenue in New York City was closed to traffic to allow for a gathering of thousands.

Origins Of Earth Day:

World Earth Day Images: In the decades leading up to the first Earth Day, Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of the consequences from either the law or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Until this point, mainstream America remained largely oblivious to environmental concerns and how a polluted environment threatens human health.

However, the stage was set for change with the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries as it raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the inextricable links between pollution and public health.