5 Facts for Earth Day 🌎

 

Earth Day 2023 | Invest in Our Planet

Happy Earth Day! This year's theme is "Invest in Our Planet." These five fact-filled images help show why we can—and must—continue to invest in our planet to help the wildlife and communities that rely on it. The ocean is a critical tool to help stabilize the Earth's climate, which is one reason it's so vital to conserve. At the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity late last year, 196 countries pledged to protect 30% of the planet's land and ocean by 2030. WHAT THEY AGREED TO Roads are critical infrastructure but can impede wildlife movement and migration. Investments in wildlife crossings—bridges or tunnels for animals—can help reduce collisions with vehicles by over 90% while also helping wildlife adapt to our changing climate. TRAILBLAZING SOLUTIONS Oysters and their reefs help filter drinking water and protect shorelines. Fortunately, aquaculture and restoration programs are working with farmers to revitalize these reefs by using oysters that are too big to sell to consumers.   PROMISING PROGRESS The deep sea is a vast, biodiverse habitat that we don't yet know everything about. Estimates suggest that noise from a single seabed mining site could travel hundreds of miles. We must suspend mining activities to learn how far these effects go. LET'S PRESS PAUSE Animal populations have dropped by nearly 70%, on average, in the past 50 years, mainly due to human activity, according to a recent World Wildlife Fund report.  FULL ANALYSIS IN THE GUARDIAN Share These Facts as GIFs! You can find Pew's and others' Earth Day facts (and animated versions of the illustrations above) on GIPHY. SEE THE GIFS 901 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20004-2008 Copyright © 2023 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All Rights Reserved.