In September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. Senator Nelson first proposed the nationwide environmental protest tothrust the environment onto the national agenda. "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."
Each year, the April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell ofprosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. But Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.
On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. 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.
Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.
今天4月22日是“世界地球日”。“世界地球日”活動起源于美國。1970年4月22日，美國舉行了聲勢浩大的“地球日”活動，數十萬群眾參與集會，呼吁創造一個清潔、簡單、和平的生活環境。作為現代環保運動的開端，“地球日”活動推動了多個國家環境法規的建立。
從20世紀90年代起，中國在每年的4月22日都舉辦“世界地球日”的宣傳活動，并根據當年的情況確定活動主題。今年中國地球日的主題為“認識地球，和諧發展”。