So often when it comes to reporting on the environment, it's a heavy message of grey gloom and impending doom. But today we get to celebrate
Earth Day 2013 and celebrate the
billion acts of green and beyond that millions of people worldwide are taking action to protect and preserve our planet. This year, on the 43rd anniversary, we view
Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change
"Climate change has many faces.
A man in the Maldives worried about relocating his
family as sea levels rise, a farmer in Kansas struggling to make ends
meet as prolonged drought ravages the crops,
a fisherman on the Niger River whose nets often come
up empty, a child in New Jersey who lost her home to a super-storm, a
woman in Bangladesh who can’t get fresh
water due to more frequent flooding and cyclones…
And they’re not only human faces.
They’re the polar bear in the melting arctic, the
tiger in India’s threatened mangrove forests, the right whale in
plankton-poor parts of the warming North Atlantic,
the orangutan in Indonesian forests segmented by more
frequent bushfires and droughts…
These faces of climate change are multiplying every day.
For many, climate change can often seem remote and
hazy – a vague and complex problem far off in the distance that our
grandchildren may have to solve.
But that’s only because they’re still fortunate enough
to be insulated from its mounting consequences. Climate change has very
real effects on people, animals,
and the ecosystems and natural resources on which we
all depend. Left unchecked, they’ll spread like wildfire.
Luckily, other faces of climate change are also multiplying every day.
Every person who does his or her part to fix the
problem is also a Face of Climate Change: the entrepreneurs who see
opportunity in creating
the new green economy, the activists who organize
community action and awareness campaigns, the engineers who design the
clean technology of the future,
the public servants who fight for climate change laws
and for mitigation efforts, the ordinary people who commit to living
sustainably…
On April 22, 2013, more than one billion people
around the world will take part in the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day.
From Beijing to Cairo,
Melbourne to London, Rio to Johannesburg, New Delhi to
New York, communities everywhere will voice their concerns for the
planet, and take action to protect
it. We’ll harness that power to show the world The
Face of Climate Change. And we’ll call on our leaders to act boldly
together, as we have, in this pivotal year.
Between now and Earth Day, we’ll collect and display
images of people, animals, and places directly affected or threatened by
climate change – as well as images of people stepping up to do
something about it. We’ll tell the world their stories. But we need your
help. We need you to be climate reporters. So, send us your pictures
and stories that show The Face of Climate Change.
On and around Earth Day, an interactive digital display
of all the images will be shown at thousands of events around the
world, including next to federal government buildings in countries that
produce the most carbon pollution. The display will also be made
available online to anyone who wants to view or show it.
Together, we’ll highlight the solutions and showcase the
collective power of individuals taking action across the world. In
doing so, we hope to inspire our leaders to act and inspire ourselves to
redouble our efforts in the fight against climate change."
To be inspired and uplifted, view the faces from all over the world working for change at
theadvocator. Locally in the Turks and Caicos we celebrated with the
TCI Shines Clean Up Campaign last Saturday. To learn more about the history of Earth Day, please click
here.
