As I’ve said several times in the past, every day of every year has a special designation of some sort.
Most of these designations are designed to promote an agenda, cause or product and are often frivolous and pretty silly. But April 22 has a designation that I think is at least a little bit worthwhile.
It’s Earth Day – a day for U.S. citizens to simply focus on the environment. To me, having a national planet appreciation day stands to reason. I mean, what better subject is there to recognize than the planet we live on?
Earth Day was founded in 1969 by U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, of Wisconsin, in the aftermath of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, Calif. It was a time when Americans drove big gas-guzzling cars that consumed huge amounts of leaded gas, and when industry routinely sent pollutants of various kinds into the air and waterways virtually unchecked by regulations or “bad press.” But it was also a time when a realization was spreading that such practices were perhaps not in anyone’s best interest.
On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million Americans from coast-to-coast took to the streets and gathered in parks and auditoriums, staging massive rallies in support of a healthy, sustainable environment. Nowadays, Earth Day activities might not be as sizable or widespread, but major progress has been made in terms of protecting the planet’s fragile balance and the day is still renowned for a cause that hits home in countries and cultures around the world.
While it might sound corny, I have to say that Earth is my favorite planet.
It’s the only one situated at the exact right distance from the medium-sized star we call the Sun to allow for the very existence of everything humans need to survive.
It’s the only one in the solar system that has an atmosphere with plenty of oxygen and a surface covered by large amounts of liquid water, and the only one where we wouldn’t all be quickly baked or frozen.
And it’s the only one where I live and breathe – or even could, for that matter.
Sure, Earth also is home to ticks, mosquitoes and great white sharks, and now and then you have to wonder why the weather does what it does. But I’ll still take its general set-up over the heat on Venus, the methane on Jupiter, the unfathomable cold of Neptune or all the other undesirable traits of all the other planets orbiting the Sun.
I’m not sure Earth is literally the only planet where conditions might be livable for our species, because with hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, the odds are good that there’s an “exoplanet” (a planet outside the Sun’s solar system) that would qualify. But taking into consideration the almost unimaginable distances that lie between stars, we’re not going to set foot on an exoplanet any time soon, if ever.
I’d say that makes Earth even more appealing, you know?
The bottom line is, God knew what He was doing when he positioned Earth where it is and gave it the characteristics that make it habitable to the illogical, insatiable and downright strange species we call humans. It’s miraculous, really, that this “third rock from the Sun” is able to meet every single requirement necessary for humanity to not only exist, but thrive.
Think about it: If Earth was moved even the slightest fraction of an inch from where it is, the balance that creates that just-right environment probably wouldn’t be possible.
Anyway, maybe we don’t actually need an Earth Day, but there’s no arguing we need Earth.
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald.
Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.
