HAPPY EARTH DAY

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Earth Day was created to remind us of our shared responsibility to protect the planet. Earth Day is a day of equilibrium when differences are forgotten and all celebrate nature’s renewal. The name “Earth” was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil. It became eorthe in Old English, then erthe in Middle English.
The original equinoctial Earth Day was celebrated in most countries on the Vernal Equinox to mark the precise moment that spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. We learned about the Vernal Equinox in a previous blog yes?
The United Nations Earth Day ceremony continued each year on the day of the March equinox (20th or 21st), with the ringing of the U.N. Peace Bell at the very moment of the equinox. In fact, the U.S. Congress and President Ford proclaimed and urged observance of Earth Day on the March equinox.
In 1970, attendees of an Environmental Teach-In, decided to call their event on April 22nd Earth Day. The successes of that day led to it becoming a regular event.
The first Earth Day persuaded U.S. politicians that environmental legislation had a substantial perpetual following. Many important laws were passed by the Congress in the wake of the 1970 Earth Day, including the Clean Air Act, laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and the ocean. The current date chosen for Earth Day is coincident with the historical date of Arbor Day a national tree-planting holiday started in the late 1800’s. Arbor Day is celebrated on the birthday of its founder which is April 22nd.
Here is some remarkable information for you. The symbol for Earth Day is a green colored Greek letter theta on a white background. Although today, theta is drawn as a circle with a single line inside…in ancient days it was written as a circle with a cross inside. This gets better everyone… The current standard astronomical symbol of our Earth consists of a cross inside of a circle. Isn’t this fascinating?
The world is expected to continue supporting life for another 1.5 billion years, after which the rising luminosity of the Sun will eliminate the biosphere. The biosphere includes the regions of our Earth’s surface and its atmosphere where living things exist.
An important part of the atmosphere for life on Earth is the ozone layer, a component of the stratosphere that partially shields the surface from ultraviolet light.
Earth is a terrestrial planet, meaning that it is a rocky body, rather than a gas giant like Jupiter. It is the largest of the four solar terrestrial planets, both in terms of size and mass. Of these four planets(Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), Earth also has the highest density, the highest surface gravity, the strongest magnetic field, and fastest rotation.
The abundance of water on our Earth’s surface is a unique feature that separates our “Blue Planet” from others in the Solar System.
About 71% of our Earth’s surface is covered with oceans, the remainder consists of continents and islands. We know that liquid water is necessary for all known life. About 97.5% of the water is saline or salt-water, while the other 2.5% is fresh water. But did you know that the majority of that fresh water is currently in the form of ice?
Our Earth also is the only terrestrial planet with active tectonics. The mechanically rigid outer layer of the Earth, the lithosphere, is broken into pieces called tectonic plates. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation can occur along these plate boundaries. Isn’t this fascinating? Our Earth is constantly in motion, even at its surface. Not just moving in space.
And when we talk about SPACE, there is a real way to define it. So if anyone asks you where space begins, tell them that the dividing line between the Earth’s atmosphere and space is called the KARMAN line and it lies 100 km above our planet’s surface. So, the region higher than 100km is Space.