Opinion: Earth Day and its importance among the holidays

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22, where people do their best to help the environment.

Earth Day started in 1970, where Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson wanted to educate people on environmental conservation. In December 1970, Congress authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which handles issues on the environment.

Previously, the Clean Air Act of 1963 helped control U.S. air pollution by regulating emissions of harmful air pollutants. In the same manner, the Clean Water Act of 1972 established a similar structure regulating guidelines for clean water in the U.S.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s temperature has been increasing. This leads to greenhouse gases being released into earth’s atmosphere and contributing to climate change.

The Paris Agreement was signed in 2016 to help combat climate change by cooperating and giving financial support to countries to achieve climate goals.

Now, everyone does their part to assist environmental issues such as renewable energy, waste management and biodiversity loss. These issues have a tremendous impact on our planet, and it is important that people pitch in and do whatever they can to help with these issues.

Earth Day shouldn’t be the only day where people become mindful of their carbon footprint. People should be more aware of the things they are doing and the impact they could potentially have on the environment.

Even small things such as recycling, planting trees and taking public transport can help the environment.

As of now, Earth is the only one that can support human life, and everyone needs to do whatever they can to protect it.

Prithvi Sudhakar is a third-year majoring in cybersecurity. To contact him, email pzs5683@psu.edu.