Earth Day - April 22

Our One and Only One Beautiful Big Blue Marble

US Senator Gaylord Nelson is the founder of 'Earth Day', a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's Environment.

One historical event has taken place last Summer August 2008, "First time in human history, the North Pole can be circum-nevigated", this was the headline in some European newspapers. For the first time in 125,000 years, the North-West Passage around Canada and the North-East Passage around Russia has simultaneously openned as shown below.


These passages had been blocked by ice since the begining of the last Ice Age.

A few weeks earlier, 9 stranded polar bears were seen off Alaska trying to swim 640 km north to the retreating ice-cap edge.

Mt Kilimanjaro in north-eastern Tazania, is the highest mountain (at 5,891.8 metres) in Africa.

From 1912 to 2001, Mt Kilimanjaro has lost 82% of its snow cap/ice cover. Aerial photos of the mountain taken in 1998 and 2005, as shown below, illustrate clearly the impact of global warming.

Mt Hood in Oregon USA as shown below is having the same fate as Mt Kilimanjaro. The top and bottom photos were taken in 1985 and 2002 respectively. Similarly it is the work of global warming.

One of the main causes of global warming is the "Greenhouse effect".
Greenhouse effect is a natural phenomena occurring on planet Earth and it is very essential for life on Earth. It is a fact that we can not live without it. Life on earth depends on energy from the sun. About 30% of the sunlight is deflected by the outer atmosphere, 70% reaches the earth surface (to support life and ecosystem) and is reflected upward again as a type of energy called infra-red radiation. As the radiation rises, it is absorbed by "Greenhouse gases" such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane, which slow down its escape from the atmosphere and help to regulate our climate. Without this "Greenhouse Effect" scientists estimate that the average on earth would be colder by 30 degrees Celsius. (KL town centre would have a temperature of +5 degrees celsius at noon and -5 degrees celsius at night). The problems begin when human activities create more greenhouse gases than what is required to warm the earth to an ideal temperature.

Human activities produce excessive carbon dioxide and other gases, waste, toxic waste, acid rain, sewerage, etc and human consumes the earth's resources at an accelerated pace and simultaneously causing irreversable damages to the earth through deforestation, mining, farming, etc.


To help to prolong the life of this Blue Marble, we can start by "consuming less" and "wasting less" (material, water, power, etc.), by " reduce, reuse and recycle", by walking more and driving less, by going organic, paperless and tissueless, by bringing your own bags for marketing, by bringing your own containers for take-away foods, by......................Don't forget to plant more trees, grasses and flowers.