Earth is a great planet to live on, but it needs our help to thrive! You’ve probably heard about Earth Day, and may even have participated in Earth Day activities at school or in your community. Each year on April 22, more than a billion people around the world celebrate Earth Day. They want to protect the planet from things like pollution and deforestation (which destroys the natural habitats of animals.) By doing things like picking up litter and planting trees, you can help make our planet a better place to live!
Another “green” holiday this month is Arbor Day, which is celebrated on the last Friday in April; this year on April 24. Arbor Day literally translates to “tree” day from the Latin origin of the word arbor. It’s a holiday that celebrates the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees. Arbor Day has been around a lot longer than Earth Day. The first Arbor Day was on April 10, 1872, and an estimated one million trees were planted on that day.
How much do you know about Earth Day and the environment? Test your knowledge with our quiz:
1. Which day is Earth Day?
A. April 22
B. December 21
C. August 12
D. October 31
2. The idea for Earth Day came from Dr. Suess.
3. True or False: Earth Day is the one and only day during the year that you should care about the environment and act to protect it.
4. What percent of its plastic does the US recycle?
5. Where does the majority of plastic waste end up?
B. Burned for energy
C. Land fills
6. Why is plastic dangerous for marine life?
A. They mistake it for food and cannot digest it
B. They can get tangled in it, which hinders their ability to swim
C. Both A and B
D. It’s not dangerous because they use plastic waste for habitats
7. What is the Greenhouse Effect?
A. The name of climate change legislation that was passed by Congress
B. When you paint your house green to become an environmentalist
C. When the gasses in our atmosphere trap heat and block it from escaping our planet
D. When you build a greenhouse
8. How many trees does it take to provide a day’s supply of oxygen for 4 people?
9. Which of the following are threatened with extinction?
E. All of the above
10. Sounds from boats and sonar devices are dangerous to whales.
1. Answer: A. Earth Day falls on April 22nd. This is a 50-year old tradition, established in 1970. It brings together communities around the world to become more of aware of and tackle modern-day environmental problems.
2. Answer: False. The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media. Hayes put together a team of 85 people to promote events across the land, and April 22, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, was selected as the date.
3. Answer: This couldn’t be more false. You should always care about the environment and act to protect it. Earth Day just brings together people from across the world in a huge effort to do so.
4. Answer: A. As of 2015, about 6.3 billion metric tons (Mt) of plastic has been produced in the U.S. and, of that, only 9% has been recycled, according to a recent study. The scary thing is if current trends continue in the U.S., 12 billion Mt of plastic waste will end up in land fills or the ocean by 2050.
5. Answer: A. Taking hundreds of years to break up, plastic is not going anywhere soon. While some of it does make it to land lls and recycling centers, a majority of it ends up in the ocean through deliberate dumping of garbage into waterways, inef cient waste systems, and simple littering. Once in the water, the plastic waste is gathered up by one of the ve major subtropical gyres into enormous stretches of “plastic soup.”
6. Answer: C. Plastic tends to oat and bobbing on the surface can lead them to be mistaken for other marine life. Plastic bags are often mistaken for jelly fish by leatherback turtles and consumed. A 2009 study found that out of 408 leatherback sea turtle autopsy reports, plastic was found in a third of those cases. Marine life can also get tangled in nets, cords, and other plastic debris, which hinders their ability to swim and in some cases, can be a severe choking hazard.
7. Answer: C. The Earth receives solar radiation from the sun. Passing through the atmosphere, some radiation is absorbed by the Earth, while some is re ected back to space. When the exchange of incoming and outgoing radiation occurs, some of the radiation becomes trapped by gases in the atmosphere. This creates a “greenhouse” effect and warms the planet.
8. Answer: A. According to North Carolina State University, one large tree is able to supply a day’s supply of oxygen for four people. Trees are also able
to absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
9. Answer: E. all these species are threatened with extinction.
10. Answer: True. Ocean noise created by human activities puts marine species at risk and threatens their survival. Increased noise levels can impact certain species like whales, who rely on the ability to communicate and hear in their natural environment to nd food, mates, and avoid predators.