Modern Earth Day

Earth Day continued to grow over the years. In 1990, it went global, and 200 million people in 141 countries participated in the event, according to the Earth Day Network.

Earth Day 2000 included 5,000 environmental groups and 184 countries. Hayes organized a campaign that focused on global warming and clean energy. “The world’s leaders in Kyoto, Japan, in late 1997, acknowledged the scientific fact that the leading cause of global warming is carbon emissions from fossil-fuel consumption, and that something must be done to address those rising emissions,” Hayes told National Geographic.

In 2010, for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, 225,000 people gathered at the National Mall for a climate rally. Earth Day Network launched a campaign to plant 1 billion trees, which was achieved in 2012, according to the organization.
 

Source

livescience

History of Earth Day

The first Earth Day was in 1970. Nelson, after seeing the damage done by a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, was inspired to organize a national “teach-in” that focused on educating the public about the environment.

Nelson recruited Denis Hayes, a politically active recent graduate of Stanford University, as national coordinator, and persuaded U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey of California to be co-chairman. With a staff of 85, they were able to rally 20 million people across the United States on April 20, 1970. Universities held protests, and people gathered in public areas to talk about the environment and find ways to defend the planet.

“Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values,” according to a history of Earth Day by the Earth Day Network, which was founded by the event’s organizers to promote environmental citizenship and action year-round.

Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of Earth Day, Nelson wrote in an article for EPA Journal, “It was on that day that Americans made it clear that they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources.”

In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for being the founder of Earth Day. This is the highest honor given to civilians in the United States.
 

Source

livescience

The Sky This Week: April 22 – 24

Friday, April 22

The annual Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak this morning. Unfortunately, the Full Moon nearly ruins the shower this year. The best views likely will come just before morning twilight commences. The Moon then hangs low in the southwest and the constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate, Lyra, lies nearly overhead. If you face away from our satellite, you should see at least a few shooting stars. The only good news to come from the Moon’s interference is that it will wane to its New phase in two weeks when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak.

Saturday, April 23

Asteroid 6 Hebe currently lies among the background stars of eastern Leo the Lion, just a stone’s throw from 2nd-magnitude Denebola. This region rides high in the southeast during the early evening hours and peaks in the south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. This evening, 10th-magnitude Hebe lies some 3° north-northwest of Denebola.

Sunday, April 24

The waning gibbous Moon passes 5° north of Mars at midnight EDT. But the scene improves dramatically by the time this part of the sky climbs highest in the south around 3 a.m. local daylight time. The Moon then stands above both Mars and Saturn while the 1st-magnitude star Antares lies just below. All four objects appear within a 10°-wide circle.
 

Source

Astronomy Magazine

The Sky This Week: April 22 – 24

Friday, April 22

The annual Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak this morning. Unfortunately, the Full Moon nearly ruins the shower this year. The best views likely will come just before morning twilight commences. The Moon then hangs low in the southwest and the constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate, Lyra, lies nearly overhead. If you face away from our satellite, you should see at least a few shooting stars. The only good news to come from the Moon’s interference is that it will wane to its New phase in two weeks when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak.

Saturday, April 23

Asteroid 6 Hebe currently lies among the background stars of eastern Leo the Lion, just a stone’s throw from 2nd-magnitude Denebola. This region rides high in the southeast during the early evening hours and peaks in the south around 11 p.m. local daylight time. This evening, 10th-magnitude Hebe lies some 3° north-northwest of Denebola.

Sunday, April 24

The waning gibbous Moon passes 5° north of Mars at midnight EDT. But the scene improves dramatically by the time this part of the sky climbs highest in the south around 3 a.m. local daylight time. The Moon then stands above both Mars and Saturn while the 1st-magnitude star Antares lies just below. All four objects appear within a 10°-wide circle.
 

Source

Astronomy Magazine

Sun & Moon Data for Friday, April 22nd

Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 109.56° ESE
Sun Altitude: 43.02°
Sun Distance: 93.455 million mi
Next Solstice: Jun 20, 2016 5:34 PM (Summer)
Sunrise Today: 6:10 AM↑ 74° East
Sunset Today: 7:36 PM↑ 287° West
Length of Day: 13 hours, 25 minutes

Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 287.50° WNW
Moon Altitude: -38.54°
Moon Distance: 252307 mi
Next New Moon: May 6, 20162:29 PM
Next Full Moon: May 21, 20164:14 PM
Next Moonrise: Today8:09 PM
Current Moon Phase: Near Full Moon (Waning Gibbous)
Illumination: 99.8%

Source

timeanddate.com

Why, Mankind, Why?

Mankind! Long before your birth,
alluring was the beauty of Mother Earth.
She bore living things of all kinds…plants and insects, animals and birds.
All, an exotic reflection of her biodiversity,
A diversity you have chosen to destroy!
Why…Mankind…Why?

Mankind! Onto the face of the earth you strolled in,
bringing up the rear in all her children.
You were meant to be the pride of all creation,
but you chose to be the bane of life by bringing destruction.
Why…Mankind…why?

Mankind! To all life, Mother Earth has been so kind!
Like the mother hen she nurtured her little chicks with affection,
as she toiled to provide food season after season with dedication.
Even to you Mankind, she gave the best in proportion
Only to be sentenced by your actions in damnation!
Why…Mankind…Why?

Mankind! You were created to walk but you chose to walk and fly!
If only you flew like a bird, it might just have been perfect.
But No! You fly in all sorts exuding all sorts.
Now Mother Earth is filled with all sorts because you choose to ride in all sorts.
Why…Mankind…why?

Mankind! You have an insatiable desire to acquire.
You plunder the earth with impunity,
Oil, coal and iron you chase in disunity,
fighting even your own kind for control and quantity
just to live a life of environmental insanity!
Why…Mankind…why?

Mankind! Perhaps you have forgotten so soon!
The La Nina drought of 2000, the heat wave in Europe in 2003,
the tragedy of the cyclone in Myanmar in 2008, the constant melting of polar ice caps,
all a consequence of your actions and inactions!
You leave the problems for tomorrow’s generation
running away for your present tribulation.
Why…Mankind…Why?

Mankind! When will you repent of your evil ways?
When will you stop biting the hands that have fed you?
When will you love mother earth like she loves you…?
And stop writing her dirge with your actions?
Mother earth looks upon you with her painful eyes
Sobbing and asking you why…
Why…Mankind…why?

******

About the Author

Christopher Ndubuisi is an environmental enthusiast and a climate change technical officer in a public authority. I believe our war against climate change has to be waged from several sectors; technically, religiously, educationally, poetically…just to mention a few. I like to send my message to people in different ways for them to appreciate the war we are waging…the war against environmental insanity!
Poem published on familyfriendpoems

THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

We know without being told when we have acted unkindly or behaved unjustly toward another. Intolerance, whether it is personal superiority or religious bigotry, serves only to isolate us from the greatest joy in life – the sharing of ideals and happiness and friendship.

We must be patient and fair toward anyone whose opinions differ from our own. There is a much better chance of convincing those whom we hope to influence by being an example rather than a voice.

It is much easier to be led than to be pushed, and not so hard to be tolerant when we recognize within ourselves the reasons we are not always tolerant.

It sometimes becomes habitual to be dissatisfied with everything we see others do. We don’t take time to understand and know the basis for their actions. We often fall short of listening to them long enough to understand, and their next words or actions may explain it.

We cannot afford to be intolerant, because no matter how good our ideas are, there is always a better one.

__________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day – April 20

“You must be prepared and know the reason why you dance.”

–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW

Inside every human being is a need to dance. We dance to music. Have you even wondered why people are moved when they hear an Indian Drum? The drum is the heartbeat of the Mother Earth. Every Indian dance is for a purpose and a reason. Every Song is for a reason. The beat of the drum makes our bodies, minds and spirits join together in harmony. It allows us to connect to Mother Earth and to each other. The dance aligns our minds to think spiritual thoughts. Dancing to the drum is healthy.

Great Spirit, today, I dance to honor you.

April 20 – Daily Feast

A little brief authority can play such fantastic tricks before high heavens as to make the angels weep. The angels are not the only ones to weep. Authority, among other things, is very brief. Clearly so when we try to control our thoughts and keep our tongues in check. Misused authority makes people self-destruct. It is not so much the authority we wield over others that destroys us, but our failure to wield authority over ourselves. What terrific power we have, but still we whine, “I just can’t do it.”

~ From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying force that flowed in and through all things…… ~

CHIEF STANDING BEAR – TETON SIOUX

“A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II” by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Resentment
Demolishing Anger’s Walls

by Madisyn Taylor

When anger has no outlet it can morph into resentment and carries the potential to cause great turmoil.

Anger, when channeled into the pursuit of change, can be a useful tool in our emotional palette. Anger is experienced by most people, some more than others. It is when anger has no outlet and morphs into resentment that it carries with it the potential to cause great turmoil. Allowing us to assign blame for the pain we are feeling, thereby easing it, resentment tends to smolder relentlessly just below the surface of our awareness, eroding our peace of mind. The target of our resentment grows ever more wicked in our minds and we rue the day we first encountered them. But resentment is merely another hue on the emotional palette and therefore within the realm of our conscious control. We can choose to let go of our resentment and to move on with our lives, no matter how painful the event that incited it.

Hanging onto resentment in our hearts does not serve us in any way. Successfully divesting ourselves of resentful feelings can be difficult, however, because doing so forces us to mentally and emotionally confront the original source of anger. When we cease assigning blame, we realize that our need to hold someone or something responsible for our feelings has harmed us. We thought we were coping with our hurt when in fact we were holding onto that hurt with a vice grip. To release resentment, we must shift our attention from those we resent back toward ourselves by thinking of our own needs. Performing a short ceremony can help you quell resentful feelings by giving tangible form to your emotions. You may want to write down your feelings and then burn the paper and close your ceremony by wishing them well. When you can find compassion in your heart, you know you are on your way to healing.

Free of resentment, we have much more energy and attention to devote to our personal development. We can fill the spaces it left behind with unconditional acceptance and joy. And, as a result of our subsequent freedom from resentment, blessings can once again enter our lives as the walls we built to contain our anger have been demolished.

Source

Daily OM