Earth Day, celebrated on April 22 each year, marks the anniversary of the birth in 1970 of the modern environmental movement in the United States. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts. By April 22, 2000, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries. Today more than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world. The Earth Day Network, founded by the organizers of the first Earth Day, promotes environmental citizenship and year-round action worldwide.
每年4月22日的“地球日”(Earth Day)是1970年在美国诞生的现代环保活动纪念日。第一个地球日催生了美国环境保护署(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency),《洁净空气法》(Clean Air Act) 、《洁净水法》(Clean Water Act)和《濒临灭绝动植物保护法》(Endangered Species Act)等一系列法案也相继出台。至2000年4月22日止,全世界已有5,000个环保组织开展工作,深入184个国家的亿万民众。今天,有10多亿人民参加与地球日有关的活动,使地球日成为全世界最大的非宗教公民活动。由第一个地球日组织者创办的“地球日网络” (The Earth Day Network)组织正在为提高全世界民众的环保意识和常年举办的活动积极奔走。
Q: When did Earth Day move from the United States to nations around the world?
问:地球日什么时候开始从美国走向世界各国?
Rogers: Earth Day has been global since its inception but became truly global on its 20th anniversary in 1990. That year, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes, the organizer of the first Earth Day and chairman of Earth Day 2010, to step up again. This was in the lead up to the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit in Rio and environmental issues were entering the global consciousness. That year, Denis and the Earth Day Network mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries.
罗杰斯:地球日从成立伊始就面向全球,但在1990年第20个纪念日起成为名符其实的全球性活动。一群环保工作领导人在1990年敦请第一个地球日的组织者和2010年地球日的主席丹尼斯·海斯(Dennis Hayes)带领大家重整旗鼓。这股势头于1992年在巴西里约热内卢召开的“地球峰会”(Earth Summit)[联合国环境与发展会议(United Nations Conference on Environment and Development)]上得到继续,环保问题逐渐成为全球共识。丹尼斯与“地球日网络”组织在那一年动员了141个国家的两亿人民参加活动。
Q: Describe some of your major international programs and activities.
问:请给我们介绍一些你们主办的主要国际性项目和主题活动。