“The earth laughs in flowers.”
“The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
Earth Day is upon us! It is being observed as you read this.
Let’s review some facts about our treasured planet:
There are 400 trees for every person on earth –
A recent study estimated that there are roughly 3 trillion trees on earth, give or take a few million. Since there are around 8 billion people currently living on the planet, the math boils down to roughly 400 trees per person.
The earth is not round –
If you have ever taken a history class, you will know that in the days of Christopher Columbus, people believed that the earth was flat. Of course, since that time, we have learned that our planet is actually round. However, it is not perfectly round, says NASA. Instead, the planet has a bit of a tummy. “The planet bulges around the equator by an extra 0.3 percent as a result of the fact that it rotates about its axis,” according to NASA’s website.
The Moon is drifting away from Earth –
The Moon is gradually drifting away from Earth at a rate of approximately 4 cm per year. This phenomenon is caused by the Moon pulling on Earth’s oceans creating tidal forces that produce a bulge of water on the side of Earth facing the Moon. This bulge in turn creates a gravitational pull on the Moon, causing it to accelerate slightly and move farther away from Earth.
Namesake –
The name Earth is about 1,000 years old. All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. However, the name Earth is a Germanic word, which simply means “the ground.”
Boiling river –
There’s a river in the Peruvian Amazon where water temperatures can actually cook unlucky animals that fall into the water. Geophysicist Andrés Ruzo, whose Peruvian grandfather mentioned the boiling river to him when he was a child, kept searching for the mysterious site even though his professors told him it had to be a myth. It is “a non-volcanic, geothermal feature flowing at anomalously high rates,” said Ruzo. Meaning it is extremely hot water, (getting up to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit), coming from very deep below the earth’s surface quickly enough that it does not cool off before it comes out into the river.
Raining frogs –
Another example of life showing up where you least expect it is when living creatures fall from the sky in a storm – and yes, this really happens. “Frog and toad rains, fish rains, and colored rains – most often red, yellow or black are among the most common accounts of strange rain, reported since ancient times,” said Cynthia Barnett. Scientists believe that a waterspout or tornado picks up the animals, dust, or other items in one place, and they get blown by the storm to another location where they fall.
And now, for some cool tidbits about Earth Day –
The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, and is credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
Earth Day is now observed in over 190 countries, making it one of the largest secular observances in the world.
The theme for Earth Day 2026 is “Our Power, Our Planet,” the campaign focuses on accelerating clean energy, increasing accountability for environmental damage, and promoting community-scale climate solutions.
April 22 was chosen specifically to fall between spring break and final exams to maximize college student participation.
Despite its massive scale, Earth Day is not a national holiday in the United States.
The very first Earth Day saw 20 million Americans – about 10% of the U.S. population at the time – take to the streets. In New York City, the mayor even shut down Fifth Avenue to allow for massive rallies and street clean-ups.
Regardless of your politics, organized religions, contrarian inclinations, or overall crankiness, can we all agree to support the Mother we call Earth; not for just an hour, not for just a day, but always?
Please!
Did You Know? We have E.D. jokes, (we mean Earth Day you wackadoodles)!
How can you tell the ocean is friendly? It waves.
A climate scientist and a climate change denier walk into a bar. The denier says, nice to see you. The climate scientist says, nice to CO2.
“I’m vegan, by the way,” says a vegan. “Oh, probably out of your love for animals?” a friend replies. “No, out of plant hatred!”