Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature's equipoise was later sanctioned in a Proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States SenatorGaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in recognition of his work.^[While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations. Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.

in Wikipedia

Asian air pollution strengthens Pacific storms

Air pollution in China and other Asian countries is having far-reaching impacts on weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere, a study suggests.

A thick haze of pollution envelopes Beijing - but scientists say the toxic air travels much further afield

Researchers have found that pollutants are strengthening storms above the Pacific Ocean which feeds into weather systems in other parts of the world.

The effect was most pronounced during the winter.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Lead author Yuan Wang, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of technology, said: "The effects are quite dramatic. The pollution results in thicker and taller clouds and heavier precipitation."

Toxic atmosphere

Parts of Asia have some of the highest levels of air pollution in the world.

In China's capital, Beijing, pollutants frequently reach hazardous levels, while emissions in the Indian capital, Delhi, also regularly soar above those recommended by the World Health Organization.

This has dire consequences for the health of those living in these regions, but there is growing evidence that there are other impacts further afield.

To analyse this, researchers from the US and China used computer models to look at the effect of Asia's pollution on weather systems.

The team said that tiny polluting particles were blown towards the north Pacific where they interacted with water droplets in the air.

Researchers believe the tiny pollutant particles blow over to the north Pacific Ocean

This, the researchers said, caused clouds to grow denser, resulting in more intense storms above the ocean.

Dr Yuan Wang said: "Since the Pacific storm track is an important component in the global general circulation, the impacts of Asian pollution on the storm track tend to affect the weather patterns of other parts of the world during the wintertime, especially a downstream region [of the track] like North America."

Commenting on the study, Professor Ellie Highwood, a climate physicist at the University of Reading, said: "We are becoming increasingly aware that pollution in the atmosphere can have an impact both locally - wherever it is sitting over regions - and it can a remote impact in other parts of the world. This is a good example of that.

"There have also been suggestions that aerosols over the North Atlantic effect storms over the North Atlantic, and that aerosols in the monsoon region over South Asia can affect circulation around the whole of the world."

China water contamination affects 2.4m after oil leak

China's biggest oil company has been blamed for water contamination affecting over 2.4 million people in Lanzhou.

Queuing up to buy bottled water on Friday - shops are now reported to have sold out

State media said the city's environmental protection chief, Yan Zijiang, blamed it on a leak from a pipeline owned by a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

The pipeline is now being repaired.

Lanzhou is the capital of north western Gansu province.

Lanzhou Petrochemical Co., is the subsidiary of state-owned CNPC believed to own the affected pipeline.

Authorities warned benzene levels were up to 20 times national safety limits

The leak tainted source water for a plant owned by Veolia Water, a joint Sino-French venture and the sole supplier for urban Lanzhou, reportedstate news agency Xinhua.

It added that authorities have warned that tap water contained up to 200 micrograms per litre of the toxic chemical benzene - 20 times the national safety limit.

The authorities have since said the contamination has returned to safe levels in most areas.

Exposure to benzene, often used in the petrochemical industry, can increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.

Shops are said to have sold out of bottled water.

The scare has once again raised concerns over China's environmental safety record.

Last year, a ruptured oil pipeline caused explosions in the eastern city of Qingdao, killing 62 people. And in January 2012, toxic cadmium and other waste from factories contaminated water supplies serving millions of people in the south western city of Guangxi.

From, BBC Sci/Enviroment

Climate change report highlights major impacts

The impact of climate change is being felt across all continents and oceans and it is affecting food security, glaciers and the spread of disease, according to a new report.

Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.

Temperatures are clearly rising and that is a serious problem. 

Watch the picture below carefully

Czech Republic: Wolves return after a century absence

A  hidden camera has captured an image of a wolf crossing a wooded clearing in the Czech Republic a hundred years after the predator disappeared from the area, it's been reported.

Fantastic news!

There have been some signs near the town of Doksy suggesting a wolf may be in the region, Radio Prague reports. But wolves haven't roamed free in Bohemia since the late 19th Century.

Right now, there is probably just one wolf or maybe a pair, says  environmental expert Miroslav Kutal. The animal is likely to have strayed into Bohemia from the border regions of Germany and Poland, where the wolf population has been thriving.

The wolf was not aware of the hidden camera

But Kutal tells Radio Impuls the conditions in Bohemia - especially in former military zones and in the mountainous border regions - seem to be good for breeding. This is something to be encouraged, he adds, since wolves can regulate the  deer population and draw tourists to the area. But the arrival of poachers could become a concern.

From BBC News-Sci/ Environment