Today is Earth Day 2020. Today, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and in that anniversary, comes a powerful commemoration and appraisal of the impactful efforts by conservationists around the world have made to protect our planet and environment.
However, during the middle of a global pandemic, this Earth Day, and the lessons we can learn in the importance of respecting mother nature, seem more pertinent than ever. After years of the unnecessary exploitation, trade, and human consumption of wild animals, mother nature retaliated, and COVID-19's ramifications have been impactful and long lasting on human society as we know it. Yet while humans are forced into quarantine and self isolation to save our own species from the deadly virus, the planet is healing itself.
Pollution levels are at their lowest levels in years. Waters in cities and towns across the globe are clearer than ever too. Wild animals are slowly recovering areas and habitats that human beings have claimed as their own.
As much as this 50th Earth Day should be about the past, it is even more so about the future. Our future. Our planet's future. Our children's future.
Mother Nature has forced us into our homes, slowed down our society, and most importantly, given us time to think. We must use this time to reflect on how we can all live greener life for a more sustainable future. As climate activist Greta Thunberg said today, it is time to "choose a new way forward".
Happy Earth Day 2020.