Earth Day isn’t about the planet – it’s about us

If you read my posts regularly, you know that I often incorporate my love of music into my writing. The Duran Duran song “Earth” was on my mind this morning. At one point in the song, Simon Le Bon laments the lack of signs of life and asks if we can hear his concern. “Planet Earth” was the group’s first single. The duranduran.com website said of the song that “Lyric Landscape” hints at new beginnings and an attempt to be heard. As a climate scientist, I resonate with trying to be heard as we continue to transform the only transportation available on this highway to heaven. We celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, but it has nothing to do with the Earth at all. This is about us.

By my nature, I am a very optimistic person, not a pessimistic person. However, I sometimes feel a little cynical about the climate movement’s culture, propaganda, and perspectives. Sometimes it all feels superficial, a relic of the social media or influencer age. That’s basically an unfair assessment, and I’m probably a part of that culture at times. I will return to my primary concern later in this article.

According to the official Earth Day website, the first Earth Day in 1970 mobilized millions of Americans from all walks of life and gave birth to the modern environmental movement. Since then, Earth Day has grown into the largest civic event on the planet, mobilizing billions of people in 192 countries to protect our planet and fight for a brighter future. This year’s EARTHDAY.ORG theme is “Earth and Plastic”. According to their website, the goal is to reduce the production of all plastics by 60% by 2040. . My daughter was selected for a summer internship focused on marine debris outreach off the coast of Georgia. Sadly, I’m sure she’ll be talking a lot about plastic.

Earth Day and its inherent purpose are great. Its organizers clearly recognize that climate change, plastics, poor air quality, ozone hole depletion and poor water quality affect our well-being. We are all at risk. Communities of color, the elderly, young children and those living below the poverty line will suffer greater losses. Even if you don’t fall into one of these categories, the knock-on effects of our fingerprints on the planet can adversely affect our economy, public health, infrastructure, national security, water supplies, and more. so what? It’s very real for each of us, even if you don’t realize it. For example, a drought in the country or other parts of the world could affect your grocery bill.write on new scientists Michael Lepage pointed out last month that rising temperatures are expected to cause food inflation to increase by 0.9% to 3.2% annually by 2035, as extreme heat affects crop yields.

So why is Dr. Shepard so cynical as Earth Day approaches? The attention and engagement associated with Earth Day is beneficial because it raises awareness of the problem and potential solutions. However, it needs to be day-to-day and not an April social media opportunity. That’s true for many, but this is a crisis where everyone works together. Solutions need to be transformative and policy-driven. However, there are some incremental things we can all do now: educate, compost, garden, reduce our carbon footprint, and become climate-conscious citizens in the policy and economic spheres. My hope for Earth Day 2024 is that it serves as a catalyst for your own Earth Month, Earth Year, Earth Decade, and Earth Lifespan.

Like Duran Duran said in the song, This is the Earth. It is also the only one currently available to humans.