April 22 is Earth Day
Each year, Earth Day -April 22 -- marks the
anniversary of the
birth of the modern
environmental
movement.
Environmental Movement Begins
1962
• Up until this time, much of America
ignored environmental concerns
• 1962: Rachel Carson's New York
Times bestseller Silent Spring
• The book spurred on the modern
environmental movement, selling
more than 500,000 copies in 24
countries
• Ms. Carson raised public awareness
and concern for all living things, the
environment, and public health.
America in the ‘60s
• At the time, Americans were
slurping leaded gas through
massive V8 sedans.
• Industry belched out smoke
and sludge with little fear of
legal consequences or bad
press.
• Air pollution was commonly
accepted as the smell of
prosperity.
• “Environment” was a word
that appeared more often in
spelling bees than on the
evening news.
• The height of
hippie and
flower-child
culture in the
United States,
• Protest was the
rage, but saving
the planet was
not the cause.
• War raged in
Vietnam, and
students
nationwide
increasingly
opposed it.
The First Earth Day: April 22, 1970
The First Earth Day: 1970
• Earth Day 1970 channeled
the energy of the anti-war
protest movement
• It put environmental
concerns front and center.
Some of Today’s Environmental Issues
Garbage
Plastics
Glass
Paper
Forests
Water
Air
Not-so-Fun Facts: Garbage
• The average American
produces more than four
pounds of garbage per day.
• Over the course of a year, that
is more than 1,600 pounds of
garbage per person.
• Almost half of the food in the
U.S. goes to waste - ~ 3,000
lbs. per second…per second!
http://junior.scholastic.com/issues/04_23_12/book#/8
Plastic
• In 2012, the U.S. produced
32 million tons of plastic.
– Only 9% was recovered for
recycling.
• It takes about 450 years for
plastic beverage bottles to
break down in a landfill.
• The energy saved by
recycling one plastic bottle
can power a computer for
25 minutes.
• Plastic Debate: Ban Bottled Water?
Plastics in our Oceans
• Every square mile of the oceans contains more than 46,000 pieces of
floating plastic.
• About 8 million metric tons of plastic goes into the ocean each year.
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the North Pacific Gyre off the
coast of California and is the largest ocean garbage site in the world.
– This floating mass of plastic is twice the size of Texas, with plastic pieces
outnumbering sea life 6:1
• Plastic
Glass
• It takes approximately 1
million years for a glass
bottle to break down in a
landfill.
• The energy saved from
recycling one glass bottle
will operate a 100-watt
light bulb for four hours.
• Producing glass from new
materials requires 30%
more energy than using
used glass.
Paper
• Americans use about 69
million tons of paper and
paperboard each year.
• Preventing one ton of
paper waste saves
between 15 and 17
mature trees.
• By recycling 1 ton of
paper, we save enough
energy to heat a home
for six months.
Wood and Forests
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Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a
massive scale. Forests the size of Panama are lost
each year.
The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a
hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.
Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of
them are related to money or to people’s need to
provide for their families.
The biggest driver of deforestation: agriculture.
Farmers cut forests to provide more room for
planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many
small farmers clear a few acres to feed their families
by cutting down trees and burning them -- “slash
and burn” agriculture.
Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood
and paper products, also cut countless trees each
year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also
build roads to access more and more remote
forests—which leads to further deforestation.
http://junior.scholastic.com/issues/04_23_12/Videos
http://www.timeforkids.com/news/toy-companychange/232561
http://www.cifor.org/defclock
Deforestation: Negative Effects
• Loss of habitat for millions of species.
– Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals
and plants live in forests,
– Many cannot survive deforestation that
destroys their homes.
• Climate change.
– Forest soils are moist, but without
protection from sun-blocking tree cover
they quickly dry out.
– Trees also help perpetuate the water
cycle by returning water vapor back into
the atmosphere.
– Without trees to fill these roles, many
former forest lands can quickly become
barren deserts.
• Greenhouse Gasses
– Fewer forests means larger amounts of
greenhouse gases entering the
atmosphere—and increased speed and
severity of global warming
– Trees play a critical role in absorbing the
greenhouse gases that fuel global
warming.
Water
• Almost 97% of the world's
water is salty or otherwise
undrinkable.
• Another 2% is locked in ice caps
and glaciers.
• Only 1% is usable for
agriculture, manufacturing, and
personal needs.
• The average American uses
about 100 gallons of water per
day and more than 100,000
gallons of water per year.
• http://visualeconomics.creditlo
an.com/how-the-averageamerican-wastes-water/
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef Queensland, AU (aerial view)
Diving among the coral in the reef
• The Great Barrier Reef is home to thousands of plant and
animal species. But UNESCO has threatened to place it on
the World Heritage in Danger list.
• Watch the video to find out why.
http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/great-barrier-reef-229241
Air Pollution
Clear our Air
Here’s a good website to explain all the ways we pollute our air:
http://www.clean-air-kids.org.uk/airquality.html
What Can We Do?
• Be Kind to Mother Earth What
Can We Do? (Time for Kids)
• http://junior.scholastic.com/is
sues/04_23_12/book#/22
Junior Scholastic Earth Day Info
Happy
Mighty Minds!
It has been 45 years today since the first
celebration of Earth Day!
Today we will look at our own environmental
behaviors by taking a quiz.
The quiz will tell us what our “carbon footprint”
is and how we can reduce it! Here’s the link:
http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator