Earth Day: Our Home, Responsibility And Legacy For Our Children

Earth Day is just a time to remind us that we need to take care of our planet and that it does not belong to us. In the end, we are only passing through here …

The 22 of April is celebrated the Day of the Earth. While it is true that it is often said that we do not inherit the Earth from our parents, but borrow it from our children, it seems that at the moment we are not applying the lesson well.

As the World Health Organization explains, our lives depend on the health of the planet and all the biodiversity that exists on Earth.  A factor that, unfortunately, we neglect with our behavior, our habits and the functioning of modern societies.

In addition, we must take into account that every breath of air we breathe also depends on many other species that we do not even think about: trees, oceans, algae, bees that take care of the pollination of a large part of nature …

We are all part of a subtle, almost magical circle that most minds are unaware of. Today, in this space, we invite you to take the time to think about it.

Earth Day: our heritage, our treasure

Trees are authentic poems of the Earth. Yet we cut them down to make paper to write down our inventions and thoughts.

We are unable to feel the pain that we generate with these wounds, these holes that we create in our forests.

This is why we celebrate Earth Day: to make us aware of these realities. However, we also know that we need to do more than recycle our daily waste or control the use of electrical devices.

To take good care of our planet, a fundamental change is necessary, at the institutional, social, economic and political levels.

We should definitely take into account the massive disappearance of many species over the past decades.

In fact, over the past 50 years, 17 animals have already disappeared. Unfortunately, we will only see a photo. It seems essential to reflect for a moment on these facts.

Gaia, a living entity

Gaia was the Greek goddess who represented the Earth. This aptly named name was used by James Lovelock, a renowned chemist, who presented the famous Gaia hypothesis in 1969.

The Gaia hypothesis indicates that the Earth is a living organism, and at the same time, creator of its own habitat.

The atmosphere and the surface of the Earth form a cohesive whole. Life is regulated and balanced so that every element has its reason for being.

The biosphere, the atmosphere, the oceans and the earth are united and linked like an exceptional “living being”. What affects one of these affects the others.

This hypothesis of “unity” and living entity has been criticized by the scientific community.

But James Lovelock defended his theory of Gaia to demonstrate that any imbalance produced by Man has consequences. And in particular, attacks on tropical forests or continental shelves. Unfortunately, this has already happened.

The Earth loves our steps but fears our hands

The Earth has given us its heritage, its seas, its wind, its flowers, and its vast habitat. Wonderful gifts that we have not been able to respect as they should.

Such trivial actions as the use of plastic bags cause enormous damage that we almost cannot imagine.

Hundreds of animals can get stuck in these materials when they arrive in the oceans.

• In fact, there are even “floating garbage islands”. One of them is in the Pacific Ocean, where plastic and an infinity of waste have created a dark spot visible by satellites and which covers an area of ​​1,400,000 km².
• Scientists also tell us that right now we are promoting the event known as the Sixth Mass Extinction.
  
• Since the beginning of the 19th century, we have been responsible for numerous disappearances in our biodiversity and our forests.

We are at the point where the International Union for the Conservation of Nature reports that one in eight bird species is endangered, as well as one in four species of mammals, one in three species of amphibians and almost 70 % Plant.

The best time to strive for Gaia and for ourselves is now when we celebrate Earth Day.

• There is something we are doing wrong. Our home, our creative goddess, Gaia, is in danger, and if, as Lovelock told us, we are all part of the same unit, her scars are also our wounds.

Earth Day is the time to react, to realize that we have triggered a mass extinction.

The effects will be even more visible in a few centuries. But we are already feeling them with climate change and the disappearance of many animals that our children will never have the opportunity to know again.