Earth Day was established worldwide in 1970. It is Friday. It could be said that it has, but increased awareness hasn’t changed the general direction.
For example, the spotted lanternfly. It was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2014. It has recently been found in at least three northern Ohio counties. The destructive lanternfly is a pest that feeds on grape, plum and cherry trees as well as grape, plum, and cherry trees. The tree of heaven, its favorite, is an invasive species from China.
This development follows ash-killing Borers, which have been destroying ash trees over the past few years. Something is threatening oaks and hemlocks.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists 122 endangered species, 53 as threatened, and 110 as species of concern. The endangered species include two native rattlesnakes from Ohio, four bat species, two types of sturgeon, and 12 species of birds, including the American bittern and northern harrier.
Although not all of the damage occurred before the first Earth Day, a lot of it was. 11 extinctions were the victims.
Late February saw at least one COVID-19 case in Ontario. This raises concerns about the possibility of an additional biological reservoir for coronavirus mutations.
Climate has attracted attention but not as much attention as it merits.
An April 4 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change compiled hundreds of climate scientist assessments and concluded that governments on Earth are running out time to stop the use fossil fuels if they want to keep the planets’ heating at a manageable level.
This level would be less than 4°C from the long-term norm. Currently, the world’s temperature is slightly more than 2°C above the norm.
ExxonMobil announced that it would invest $10 billion in a South American offshore oil development project, which is expected to produce 250,000 barrels per day.
Around 1,200 scientists from all over the globe organized a climate protest on April 6. Some were arrested after locking themselves in the JP Morgan Chase building, Los Angeles.
The Amazon jungle is one of the most important carbon sinks on the planet. It is close to a tipping point where it could be transformed into a savannah. In tropical forests, bird populations have plummeted. As permafrost thawed, methane, a potent greenhouse, reached record levels.
In March, a research station in Antarctica recorded temperatures that were 68 degrees higher than normal. Temperatures in parts of Arctic reached 54 degrees above average. A Antarctic ice shelf that was twice the size of New York City collapsed.
Western Australia in January saw the Southern Hemisphere’s hottest-ever-recorded temperature at 123 degrees. Argentina and Uruguay set new records. January was the sixth-warmest month on record, and February was the seventh.
Models predict that the planet will remain as warm this year as it was in 2021 which was the sixth-hottest year ever recorded. Models predict that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history.