Earth Day 2020: From theme to significance- here's all you need to know

Every year Earth Day is marked on April 22 to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment.​ 

Earth Day is being celebrated as an annual event on April 22 since 1970 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The event is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and celebrated in more than 193 countries each year.

This year's celebration marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day when millions of people around the world will take an oath to protect the planet.

Due to the COVID-19 lockdown globally, the Earth day 2020 celebration will be the first-ever Digital Earth Day where the organisers have asked people to rally online. 

History of Earth Day

Earth Day was a unified response to an environment in crisis — oil spills, smog, rivers so polluted they literally caught fire.

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet.

The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event.

Theme of Earth Day 2020

Each year, Earth Day has a different theme and the theme for 2020 is climate action.

The official website of Earth day says the "enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary".

Earth Day 2020 significance

According to the official website, Earth Day 2020 will be far more than a day. It must be a historic moment when citizens of the world rise up in a united call for the creativity, innovation, ambition, and bravery that we need to meet our climate crisis and seize the enormous opportunities of a zero-carbon future.