Earth Day

I think of Earth Day—founded in 1970—as the fulcrum point of the cultural Renaissance known as "the Sixties." As a functioning holiday it's become rather shabby and diffuse over the years, even as Earth's problems have continued to deepen. But there's a lot of Earth left—for instance, the entire population of the United States could fit into the state of Texas with more than one acre for each household. ("Space and the city," The Economist, April 4th-10th 2015, p. 11).

Why not take (or print) one picture today celebrating, or commenting on, or recording some aspect of Earth?

Mike

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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[Michael Barker]

Hey, that's kind of fun/horrifying. Apparently, if everyone in Calgary moved to Prince Edward Island, the island would be as crowded as Washington, D.C. (about 16 people per acre).

Try it yourself, folks:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28population+of+calgary+%2B+population+of+prince+edward+island%29+%2F+%28area+of+prince+edward+island+in+acres%29

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28population+of+washington%2C+d.c.%29+%2F+%28area+of+washington%2C+d.c.+in+acres%29

[Rob]

My favorite fact along those lines: the entire population of the US could move to New Hampshire and it would have the population density of Brooklyn.

[Hugh Smith]

I photographed the first Earth Day in Philadelphia in 1970 and the self proclaimed founder, Ira Einhorn. I moved away and later in 1978 or therabouts, discovered in a Time Magazine article that Ira (nicknamed Unicorn) had been released on bail by then District Attorney Arlen Specter, for the murder of his girlfriend and skipped to France.
He was later extradited to the States.
So my memory of Earth Day is somewhat tainted, although still important and I continue to shoot
"The Earth" so generations will remember what it was like on the blue marble.
My two pesos

[Lubo]

Quite possibly the main factor that will affect the health of the biosphere on land and in the air in the next decades, actually quite soon apparently, will be ... the health of the global ocean.

If interested have a look at Sea Sick: The Global Ocean in Crisis.

[Scott L.]

There may be room for more people but other essential resources are much more limited. Most western states do not have sufficient water to support significantly larger populations. Vast quantities of water and fossil fuel-based fertilizer are used for crops.

There is only one real way to support larger populations and still have sufficient land, water, and food--and to avoid the worst environmental degradation. That is for humans to eat plants instead of flesh/dairy/eggs.

". . . an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?pagewanted=all

". . . worldwide about 80 percent of nitrogen harvested in crops and grass goes to feed livestock instead of feeding people directly. Much of that nitrogen winds up in their manure and then gases off as it sits in giant open lagoons near intensive animal production centers . . . ."

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_efficient_planet/2013/03/nitrogen_fixation_anniversary_modern_agriculture_needs_to_use_fertilizer.single.html

". . . even if your goal were solely to slow down climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you could do that more effectively by donating to organizations that are encouraging people to go vegetarian or vegan than by donating to leading carbon-offsetting organizations."

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/19/is_it_moral_to_save_this_puppy/

Happy Earth Day.

[Dave in NM]

"...the entire population of the United States could fit into the state of Texas with more than one acre for each household."

But why would they want to?

http://davereichertphoto.com/txph-horizons

[Don]

1.6 billion when my father was born, 3 billion when I was born, 7 billion when my (2 only, a deliberate choice) children were born. With a continuing increase in consumption, resource depletion and strife from climate change yet to come, it looks like the low end calculations of a 4 billion carrying capacity could be overly optimistic. We are indeed a plague upon the planet.

Others can say it much better than I:

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Why Earth Day? Earth has no problems and will not have in the next couple of billion years or so. It is people who need a Peoples Day.

[Dave Kee]

Arguing for more population growth is nuts.

[John Dykstra]

Here's my Earth Day photograph for this year:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsdykstra/16942552742/

[jim woodard]

Dave from NM is absolutely right! There is NO reason for anymore people to move to Texas!! In fact most of the people who have moved here in the last 20 years should leave! Eastern New Mexico looks almost exactly like the Texas Panhandle and has even fewer people, maybe they should go there! :)

[Gordon Cahill]

Why is it that many of us think we're the only species on the planet who needs a reasonable amount of space to survive? We share this rock and we need to take care of its diversity because that diversity keeps us alive as well.

Don is right. We are a plague.

Gordon

[Craig Arnold]

The amount of misinformation is ridiculous. We're doing okay, better by far than we ever have, and things are continuing to improve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UbmG8gtBPM

[Jeff1000]

A silly demonstration of godless useful idiots who worship nature over the creator and mankind.

[Mark]

My iPhone summed up my feelings when it sent me a reminder the day before.

[Mark]

Oops! I pressed the send button too soon.

Knowing how people on the internet think, I just want to clarify that I do love the Earth. In fact, I'm on my way to a wildlife refuge to, hopefully, score some bird pics.

[Ernie Van Veen]

I read somewhere that 50,000 years (barely a blink in cosmic terms) after the last human has passed away, there will be no evidence of our existence... in spite of the evidence I regularly find on our local beach.