Earth Day issues hit close to home

It’s our world. Together let’s try to keep it green!

With Earth Day on the horizon, I’ve got mixed feelings. It seems like when it comes to the environment, our global community is at once in the worst crisis in history and the greatest renaissance of our time.

After so many years of environmental abuse, our planet is beginning to buckle to its knees under the weight of climate change. The result of human influences (like greenhouse gases) as well as natural factors (like ocean variability), climate change is now widely recognized as the most pressing environmental issue of our time, affecting everything from the economy, to global health, to domestic security.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, this is the second straight year with an ice-free passage through Canada’s Arctic islands, and an increase in ice-loss in Greenland and Antarctica. Here at home, the Canadian Northern boreal forests have seen forest fires go from 1 million to 3 million hectares in the last decade. Meanwhile, the economy is feeling the effects of every natural disaster, like the 2001 prairie drought that cost Canada more than $5 billion in agricultural losses, according to the University of Manitoba.

But it’s not all bad news. Despite the urgency of global warming, our global community seems, at last, to be going green. Consumers are choosing recycled cotton bags at the grocery check-out in mass numbers, almost every big business seems to have green initiatives and hybrid cars are more popular than ever. And, on March 28, homes, offices and landmarks in over 1,000 cities in 80 countries turned out their lights for Earth Hour. Starting at 8:30 pm local time, this global phenomenon raised awareness about environmental issues worldwide.

For me, this Earth Day will be a reminder of how serious climate change really is. But, more so, it will be a celebration of just how serious we are about finding solutions.

Sarah Smithe
Free The Children
Writer and Editor

Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network.