What is Earth Day and what has it achieved?

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By Mark Poynting & Maddie MolloyBBC News Climate & Science

Every year, millions of people across the globe gather on April 22 to mark Earth Day and celebrate the environmental movement.

The event began in 1970 in the United States, and is now marked around the world.

What is Earth Day and when is it?

Earth Day is a global event which aims to highlight the importance of protecting the environment.

It was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University.

Both had growing concerns about environmental damage in the US, such as that caused by a large oil spill in 1969 in Santa Barbara, California.

They came up with Earth Day as a way to engage the public and push green issues to the national agenda.

Image source, Getty Images

The first Earth Day saw 20 million people across the US take to the streets.

It became a global event in 1990, and now involves over one billion people of all ages in nearly 200 countries, according to organisers.

“Celebrating Earth Day is often the first environmental action for a lot of people,” says Earthday.org president, Kathleen Rogers.

What is happening for Earth Day 2024?

The 2024 theme, “Planet vs. Plastics”, aims to raise awareness of the harms of plastic pollution for human and planetary health.