Every April 22nd, humans across the world recognises the importance of this planet and its amazing natural resources to remind the present and future generations of the need to save the environment from collapsing, such as loss of species, ecosystems due to pollution and human activities.

The #EarthDay2021’s theme is titled ‘Restore Our Earth’ and it focuses on natural processes and emerging green technologies that can restore the world’s ecosystems, according to The Hindu.

As Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2020 EarthDay and at the same time create awareness among the masses about hot issues such as climate change and global warming, WuzupNigeria brings you five facts about the annual anniversary.

Inspired by Vietnam anti-war movement: The Earth Day as we all know it was inspired by the student anti-war movement in the US through the originator, Senator Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin, who had long been concerned about the deteriorating environment in the United States after witnessing a massive oil spill that leaked millions of gallons of oil off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969.

April 22 was strategically chosen to maximize student participation: Senator Nelson announced the idea for a teach-in on college campuses to the national media, and persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair.  They recruited Denis Hayes, a young activist, to organize the campus teach-ins and they choose April 22, a weekday falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, to maximize the greatest student participation.

Earth Day went global in 1990: Initially originated in the US in 1970, Earth Day gained global recognition in 1990, thanks to Denis Hayes who aided the mobilization of 200 million people in 141 countries as the event lifted environmental issues onto the world stage.

UN renames Earth Day: Although it’s still called Earth Day in the United States, the United Nations in 2009 proclaimed it as the ‘International Mother Earth Day.’ and an estimated one billion+ people participate in Earth Day every year, making it the largest secular observance in the world.

Earth Day has an official theme song: The Earth Day has an official anthem which was originally written and composed by Indian poet Abhay Kumar in 2013. As it stands, the original composition has since been recorded in all official UN languages.