EARTH DAY 22 APRIL & A PROFILE OF THE WORLD

[muhammadmohsinali]

EARTH DAY & A PROFILE OF THE WORLDEarth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year. April 22 corresponds to spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 International Mother Earth Day.The Earth Day nameAccording to Senator Nelson, the moniker "Earth Day" was "an obvious and logical name" suggested by "a number of people" in the fall of 1969, including, he writes, both "a friend of mine who had been in the field of public relations" and "a New York advertising executive," Julian Koenig. Koenig, who had been on Nelson's organizing committee in 1969, has said that the idea came to him by the coincidence of his birthday with the day selected, April 22; "Earth Day" rhyming with "birthday," the connection seemed natural. Other names circulated during preparations—Nelson himself continued to call it the National Environment Teach-In, but press coverage of the event was "practically unanimous" in its use of "Earth Day," so the name stuck.The first Earth DayResponding to widespread environmental degradation, Gaylord Nelson, a United States Senator from Wisconsin, called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. Over 20 million people participated that year, and Earth Day is now observed on April 22 each year by more than 500 million people and several national governments in 175 countries.Senator Nelson, an environmental activist, took a leading role in organizing the celebration, hoping to demonstrate popular political support for an environmental agenda. He modeled it on the highly effective Vietnam War teach-ins of the time. The proposal for Earth Day was first proposed in a prospectus to JFK written by Fred Dutton. However, Nelson decided against much of Dutton's top-down approach, favoring a decentralized, grass roots effort in which each community shaped their action around local concerns.Nelson had conceived the idea for Earth Day following a trip he took to Santa Barbara right after the horrific oil spill off the coast in 1969. Outraged by the devastation and Washington political inertia, Nelson proposed a national teach-in on the environment to be observed by every university campus in the U.S.I am convinced that all we need to do to bring an overwhelming insistence of the new generation that we stem the tide of environmental disaster is to present the facts clearly and dramatically. To marshal such an effort, I am proposing a national teach-in on the crisis of the environment to be held next spring on every university campus across the Nation. The crisis is so imminent, in my opinion, that every university should set aside 1 day in the school year-the same day across the Nation-for the teach-in.One of the organizers of the event said:"We're going to be focusing an enormous amount of public interest on a whole, wide range of environmental events, hopefully in such a manner that it's going to be drawing the interrelationships between them and, getting people to look at the whole thing as one consistent kind of picture, a picture of a society that's rapidly going in the wrong direction that has to be stopped and turned around."It's going to be an enormous affair, I think. We have groups operating now in about 12,000 high schools, 2,000 colleges and universities and a couple of thousand other community groups. It's safe to say I think that the number of people who will be participating in one way or another is going to be ranging in the millions."Nelson announced his idea for a nationwide teach-in day on the environment in a speech to a fledgling conservation group in Seattle on September 20, 1969, and then again six days later in Atlantic City to a meeting of the United Auto Workers. Senator Nelson hoped that a grassroots outcry about environmental issues might prove to Washington, D.C. just how distressed Americans were in every constituency. Senator Nelson invited Republican Representative Paul N “Pete” McCloskey to serve as his co-chair and they incorporated a new non-profit organization, environmental Teach-In, Inc., to stimulate participation across the country. Both continued to give speeches plugging the event.On September 29, 1969, in a long, front-page New York Times article, Gladwin Hill wrote:"Rising concern about the "environmental crisis" is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems, analogous to the mass demonstrations on Vietnam, is being planned for next spring, when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate student, read the NYT article and traveled to Washington to get involved. He had been student body president and a campus activist at Stanford University in McCloskey’s district and where Teach-In board member Paul Ehrlich was a professor. He thought he might be asked to organize Boston. Instead, Nelson eventually asked Hayes to drop out of Harvard, assemble a staff, and direct the effort to organize the United States. Hayes would go on to become a widely recognized environmental advocate.Hayes recruited a handful of young college graduates to come to Washington, D.C. and began to plan what would become the first Earth Day.Nelson's suggestion was difficult to implement, as the Earth Day movement proved to be autonomous with no central governing body. As Senator Nelson attests, it simply grew on its own:Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.On April 22, 1970, Earth Day marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Approximately 20 million Americans participated. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, Freeway and expressway revolts, the loss of wilderness, and air pollution suddenly realized they shared common values.Media coverage of the first Earth Day included a One-Hour Prime-time CBS News Special Report called "Earth Day: A Question of Survival," with correspondents reporting from a dozen major cities across the country, and narrated by Walter Cronkite.Pete Seeger was a keynote speaker and performer at the event held in Washington DC. Paul Newman and Ali McGraw attended the event held in New York City.Earth Day 2010Earth Day 2010 coincided with the World People's Conference on Climate Change, held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and with the International Year of Biodiversity.Earth Day 2011In recognition of the power of millions of individual actions, Earth Day 2011 will be organized around A Billion Acts of Green: Personal, organizational and corporate pledges to live and act sustainability. At over 45 million actions to date, A Billion Acts of Green campaign – the largest environmental service campaign in the world – is steadily building commitments by individuals, corporations, and governments in honor of Earth Day. A Billion Acts of Green inspires and rewards both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability. The goal is to register one billion actions in advance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 2012. A Billion Acts of Green website quantifies acts of green through an easy-to-use on line registration tool. A Billion Acts of Green demonstrates the kind of environmental impact that can be made when millions of people, corporations and organizations make commitments, both small and large, to better their environment.Elements of the 2011 Earth Day campaign include:Athletes for the Earth: Bringing the voices of Olympic and professional athletes to the environmental movement, Athletes for the Earth™ has a proven track record in illustrating the interaction of athletes with their environment and connecting popular athletic activities with environmental stewardship. Participating athlete/celebs include Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Demong, Olympic Bronze Medalist Andrew Weibrecht, World Champion Freeskier and founder of the Save Our Snow Foundation Alison Gannett, Boston Bruins Defenseman Andrew Ference, Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Aaron Peirsol, and NFL linebacker Dhani Jones.The Canopy Project: In 2010, Earth Day Network planted over 1 million trees in 16 countries under the Avatar Home Tree Initiative. In 2011, EDN will continue that effort with another 1 million trees in large-scale, sponsor‐supported tree-planting projects in partnership with non‐profit organizations throughout the world. Locations where reforestation is most urgently needed include Haiti, Brazil, Mexico and urban areas of the US. Help us green our future, one million trees at a time.Women and the Green Economy (WAGE): To accelerate and provide the new thinking and creative power for a global post-carbon economy, Earth Day Network is engaging women business, government and NGO leaders in its “Women and the Green Economy” (WAGE™) campaign. Our goal is to create a policy agenda for Rio+20 and relevant generate national initiatives that will promote the green economy, secure educational and job training opportunities for women and channel green investment to benefit women.Arts for the Earth: Arts for the Earth is an innovative education program developed to teach sustainability and environmental education through museum and arts community networks.World AnthemThe World Anthem is the title of a song composed by John M. Guillot with participation from David Cope. The song was designed with purposes analogous to those of a traditional national anthem, but for all nations of the Earth. The song was conceived in 1996 and completed in 2000. It was performed publicly for the first time at Denver’s Millennium Celebration on December 31, 2000. The song received additional attention after September 11, 2001 as a candidate for inclusion in ceremonies, broadcast in television programs, and even for use by the White House.CompositionOne unique aspect of The World Anthem is how the song was composed. Both the music and lyrics of the song were generated using tools for algorithmic composition, with the "raw material" derived from 193 pre-existing national anthems of the world; from "The Star Spangled Banner" to China's "March of the Volunteers" to the Vatican City's "Hymn and Pontifical March" and others.LyricsLet the earth's foundations rise, To call us all as one.This song we sing, To lead us through the night, To see us through, The trying times, To a future bright.Throughout the world, We sing our praise to peace, Our bond of love, Will serve us true for, All as one for all.Let earth have peace, No fight no war, why fight amongst ourselves, peace, peace its all for peace.A Profile of the WorldGeography• Age: 4.55 billion years old.• Total area: 510.072 million sq km (196.940 million sq mi). • Land area: 148.94 million sq km (57.506 million sq mi). • Water area: 361.132 million sq km (139.434 million sq mi). • Coastline: 356,000 km (221,208 mi). • Note: 70.9% of the world is water, 29.1% is land.• Land boundaries: 251,060 km (156,262.58 mi.), not counting shared boundaries twice.• Climate: Two large areas of polar climates are separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates.• Terrain: Highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,850 m (29,035 ft) • Lowest land depression is the Dead Sea at –411 m (–1,349 ft) below sea level.• The greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at –10,924 m (–35,840 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.• Land use: Arable land: 10.57%. • Permanent crops: 1.04%. • Other: 88.39% • Irrigated land: 2,770,980 sq km (1,721,886 sq mi).People• Population: 6,889,167,846• Growth rate: 1.13% • Birth rate: 19.86 births/1,000 population • Death rate: 8.37 deaths/1,000 population • Sex ratio (at birth): 1.07 males/females • Infant mortality rate: 44.13 deaths/1,000 live births • Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 66.12 years. Male: 64.29 years. Female: 68.07 years • Total fertility rate: 2.56 children born per woman • Literacy: Age 15 and over who can read and write • Total population: 82%. Male: 87%. Female: 77%. • Over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterateGovernment and Economy• Political divisions: 195 sovereign nations, 61 dependent areas, and 6 disputed territories.• Economy: Global output declined approximately by 1% in recent years, led by Russia (-7.9%), Mexico (-6.5%), Japan (-5.3%), Italy (-5.1%), Germany (-4.9%), and United Kingdom (-4.9%). Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth results, with China (+9.1%), India (+7.4%), and Indonesia (+4.5%) reporting the highest. Growth rates slowed in all the major industrial countries and most developing countries, because of uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. Analysts attribute the slowdown to uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized.• GDP (PPP): US$74.00 trillion• GDP (Currency) — $61.96 trillion• GDP/capita (PPP): — $10,500• GDP/capita (Currency): $7,178• Annual growth of per capita GDP (PPP): -0.8%• GWP composition: agriculture 6%, industry 30.6%, services 63.4% • Inflation rate (consumer price index): developed countries 0% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 22% typically • Unemployment rate: 8.8% • In 2011, the largest economies in the world are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.• Industrial production growth rate: 3% • Yearly electricity - production: 15,850,000 GWh ,14,850,000 GWh • Yearly electricity - consumption: 14,280,000 GWh • Oil - production: 84,650,000 bbl/d • Oil - consumption: 85,100,000 bbl/d • Oil - proved reserves: 1.025 trillion barrel (163 km³) • Natural gas - production: 2,569 km³ • Natural gas - consumption: 2,556 km³ • Natural gas - proved reserves: 161,200 km³ • Yearly exports: $12.4 trillion • Exports - partners: US 12.7%, Germany 7.1%, China 6.2%, France 4.4%, Japan 4.2%, UK 4.1% • Yearly imports: $12.29 trillion • Imports - partners: China 10.3%, Germany 8.6%, US 8.1%, Japan 5% • Debt - external: $56.9 trillion • Yearly economic aid - recipient: Official Development Assistance (ODA) $50 billionCommunications• Telephones - main lines in use: 4,263,367,600 • Telephones - mobile cellular: 3,700,000,000 • Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 10,350 • Internet users: 1,381,050,595 Transport• Airports: 49,973 • Roadways (in kilometres): 32,345,165 km• Paved: 19,403,061 km• Unpaved: 12,942,104 km • Railways: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America.Military• Global military expenditure stands at over $1.6 trillion.

[abugee]

can u disclose your source of information about this article.however it is an informative post.