Earth Day Participation Sprouts Across the World

Posted Apr 23, 2012 by Alejandro De La Cruz

One of our favorite videos from 2011 is a time-lapse film called “The Mountain,” taken over a two-day period from the location of Spain’s highest mountain, El Teide. The film, produced by Norwegian photographer Terje Sørgjerd, captures the rhythm and harmony of weather patterns, the balance and grace of nature, and the colorful palette of the atmosphere, all from atop one of the world’s best observatories. It’s a lovely tribute to our small planet.

Yesterday marked the 42nd annual celebration of Earth Day, which began in 1970 to create awareness around environmental crises in the world. Millions of people across the globe pledged to pick up trash in their communities, plant gardens and trees, drive less, walk more, use less energy, and celebrate earth in their own creative ways.

Here are a few links, along with some photos from the Twitter-sphere, to recap the day’s events.

10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day (via i09)
Earth Day successes since 1970 (via Huffington Post)
The Washington Post provides a full gallery of festivies from the National Mall in Washington D.C. (via WP)
NASA releases stunning time-lapse of earth (via Herald Sun)
The film “One Day On Earth” was shown in more than 160 countries in the world on April 22. (via NYT)

: “Kayak #volunteers head out for #EarthDay #cleanup in Malibu #REI @reilosangeles” (via @healthbay)

: Debbie McLean helps visitors to NASA’s Earth Tent during the Earth Day event on the National Mall in Washington DC on Saturday April 21, 2012. (via NASA Flickr/CC)