Earth Day is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970, with the participation of over 20 million people. It was created by him in response to widespread environmental degradation. While the first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes (the original, National Coordinator, during 1970), took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year by more than 500 million people. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.