Every 22 April across the globe, Earth Day takes place. An event to encourage people to celebrate the planet, take action against climate change and encourage people to be more environmentally friendly.
Each year more than one billion people get involved, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
When did it start?
Earth Day started in 1970, with the concept set up by peace activist John McConnell at a 1969 Unesco conference in San Francisco after he witnessed the ravages of an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California that year.
Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realised that if he could combine that energy with the emerging public consciousness about the environment, then it could be propelled into the national political agenda.
It was originally planned to be on 21 March, the first day of spring. A month later, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed a nationwide environmental teach-in on 22 April, an event which consumed McConnell’s plan.
It was named Earth Day, and every year since it has grown in purpose, resulting in it becoming the largest single-day protest in human history.
What's the theme this year?
The theme of Earth Day 2022 is "Invest in Our Planet".
Its website states:
"This is the moment to change it all – the business climate, the political climate, and how we take action on climate.
"Now is the time for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods."
How can I get involved?
There are hundreds of events taking place across the world for Earth Day.
You can find out what's happening near you using the interactive map on its website, and there's also an Earth Day Livestream throughout the day. All can be found at earthday.org/earth-day-2022.
You might want to get involved with the Canopy Project, which is way to donate to tree planting, and there's also the Great Global Cleanup, a worldwide campaign to remove billions of pieces of litter from neighbourhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks.
But if you want to get involved without attending an official event, you could go for some of the following simple activities:
