It began after a bad oil spill that took place in 1969 off the coast of California. A year later, the first annual Earth Day was celebrated to demonstrate universal support for environmental protection and responsible stewardship of the planet and its inhabitants.

Since then, public and official awareness of the negative impacts of human activity – such as air and water pollution – have been raised to a level where concrete action is being demanded to mitigate those effects and heal the ills that have been inflicted on our world.

The equinoctial Earth Day is celebrated on the March equinox (around March 20) to mark the arrival of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and of astronomical autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. In most cultures, the equinoxes and solstices are considered to start or separate the seasons.

The occasion, celebrated on Tuesday, April 22, will represent an opportunity to reflect on how fragile our biological and environmental systems truly are, and the need for proper care and implementation of procedures that will ensure the optimal health of both the large and small on the only home we have, our precious planet Earth.

Similarly, the many factors affecting our environmental health demand that immediate and meaningful measures must be taken as soon as possible.

Cooperation between nations, corporations, informed experts and the common inhabitants of this world is clearly the best hope for saving us all.

May all of us gather together in the common cause of doing just that.