International Mother Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22, and this year the United Nations is taking a time to discuss the problems that affect Earth. The UN dubbed the celebration for this year “Environmental and Climate Literacy.”

According to the UN, environmental and climate literacy is the engine for not only creating green voters and passing climate laws and policies but also for accelerating green technologies and environmentally conscious jobs. International Mother Earth Day is celebrated every year as a reminder to people that Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life, and that it needs to be protected and preserved.

Earth, NOAA
The United Nations is celebrating International Mother Earth Day. Image credit: NOAA, NASA.

International Mother Earth Day was designated by the UN

International Earth Day also recognizes a collective responsibility, established in the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which promotes harmony with nature and the planet to achieve a balance among the economic, social, and environmental necessities of present generations of humanity, as well as generations to come.

The celebration also provides a chance to raise awareness around the world about the problems Earth currently faces, such as global warming, which has caused countless problems for fauna, flora and living ecosystems around the planet. Recently, it was reported that the Great Barrier Reef is sustaining yet another bleach for the second consecutive year. The Great Barrier Reef is an important piece of Earth’s ecosystem, and it’s facing severe bleaching due to global warming. Another big issue resulting from climate change has been the de-icing of Arctic waters, which has shaken the ecosystem in every way possible.

NASA, NOAA.
“Education is the foundation for progress,” says the UN on its News Centre website. “A global citizenry must be built that is fluent in the concepts of climate change and aware of its unprecedented threat to our planet.” Image credit: NASA, NOAA.

The UN adds that everyone must empower themselves with the knowledge to inspire action, in defense of environmental protection. International Mother Day was designated so in 2009 by the UN General Assembly, after noticing that some countries celebrated Earth Day.

Google’s Doodle for Earth Day

Google decided to illustrate some of the more worrisome problems that Earth currently faces, on its new doodle dedicated to Earth Day.

Google Doodle
The doodle shows a fox sleeping and dreaming of what the world may turn into if it keeps going through the same path.

The fox dreams about dead fish in a bleached sea, and penguins struggling to survive in a de-frozen Arctic. The animal quickly wakes up and sets out to do things to avoid that gloom and unhappy future. He starts growing some plants, he switches to a vegetarian option when eating –as the meat industry is one of the most energy demanding ones-, starts riding a bike instead of a car, saves electricity and relies on sunlight when he can, and finally unplugs electric devices and turns off power at nights. Google’s tips to help with climate change can improve Earth considerably, just as long as people become aware of the dangers that our planet currently faces.

Source: UN News Centre