Earth Day: How a Grassroots Movement Sparked a Global Environmental Awakening

Today marks the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, a global event that began as a grassroots call to action and has since evolved into the largest civic observance in the world, mobilizing over a billion people each year to advocate for environmental protection.

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, following a series of environmental disasters that shocked the public. Among them, a massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, in 1969, brought national attention to the consequences of industrial pollution. The images of oil-slicked wildlife and blackened waters galvanized a generation.

Earth Day went international in 1990, mobilizing 200 million people in over 140 countries, and has since expanded to address global issues such as climate change, deforestation, and plastic pollution.