Ways to Engage on Earth Day 2020


This image taken from Apollo 17 in 1972, captured first view of the south polar ice cap.

Fifty years ago, the Apollo spacecrafts brought back the first images of the “Whole Earth,” sparking a new consciousness about humankind’s relationship to our planet. Today, on Earth Day 2020, we stand at a pivotal moment. COVID-19 has led to cleaner air, clearer waters, and huge reductions in our use of fossil fuels. But what comes next?

On that very first Earth Day in 1970, this is how television anchor Walter Cronkite framed it:

A day set aside for a nationwide outpouring of mankind seeking its own survival: Earth Day….the message is clear:  Act or die.

— Walter Cronkite on the CBS News

Whether you are a gamer, teacher, environmentalist or just an avid learner, here are a few of our favorite Earth Day resources from the Internet Archive to use and share. 

From NASA: Our Planet & Beyond in Image and Sound

This picture of the Earth and Moon in a single frame was taken by the Galileo spacecraft from about 3.9 million miles away. Antarctica is visible through clouds (bottom) and we can see the far side of the Moon.

Back in the 1960 and 70s, when the Apollo Missions were in full throttle, these images from NASA of Earth and the polar ice caps were jaw dropping. The Internet Archive is proud to partner with NASA to preserve their rich archives—more than 100 collections of  audio, video, and images of space exploration.

Games to Defend the Earth

From our Software Curator, Jason Scott, here are some vintage software packages you can play to either learn about, save, or fight for the Earth. Jason suggests starting with the classic from 1990, SimEarth by Maxis, a simulator where you try to keep the entire Earth (Gaia) happy.

Next up a classic from 1985: Your Universe Volume 2: The Planet Earth. Apple II educational software from Focus Media.

Finally, why not end with a nice Earth Defense arcade game? U.N. Defense Force: Earth Joker (Japan), is a 1993 SHMUP (Shoot ’em Up) where you use one of four pilots to defend the Earth.

Gifs to Enjoy the Earth

Back in the day, Citizens of GeoCities loved to create GIFS, and we’ve pulled them all together in a nifty search engine that we call GIFCities. If you want to use and see an archive of Earth Gifs, here they are for you to enjoy:

https://gifcities.org/?q=earth

Books to Understand the Earth

For young readers:  

The Official Earth Day Guide to Planet Repair, by Denis Hayes

This useful guide was written back in 2000 for a new generation of Earth Day activists by Denis Hayes, the national coordinator of the very first Earth Day. Chock full of quizzes, interesting analogies and painless steps to reduce our own energy use, The Official Earth Day Guide to Planet Repair has as much to offer on the 50th Earth Day anniversary as it did on the 30th.

The book that started it all…

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

When Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, “environment” was not even a concept, let alone a movement. As Al Gore writes in his introduction to this edition:

Silent Spring came as a cry in the wilderness, a deeply felt, thoroughly researched, and brilliantly written argument that changed the course of history. Without this book, the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never have developed at all.


For readers willing to think metaphysically:  

The End of Nature by Bill McKibben

Back in 1989, Bill McKibben was already trying to wake us up to the problems larger than any single environmental issue: ozone layers, air pollution, the diminishing rainforests. In The End of Nature, this deep thinker and tireless activist asked us to step back to understand humankind’s relationship to nature itself, to turn off the destructive path we were on. Twenty-one years later, it’s not too late to listen.


And while we are separated during this pandemic, Earth Day reminds us: our lives and fates are connected across one Earth. Today, tune in to virtual gatherings that are “flooding the world with hope, optimism and action” at https://www.earthday.org/.

15 thoughts on “Ways to Engage on Earth Day 2020

  1. ایران نوا

    Wow, Thanks for giving us this great inisght
    I enjoy your beautiful site, you really don’t have a word, thank you very much for your good feelings towards the great users.

  2. Filmyhit

    Yes! The message was clear and loud done by the CBN news anchor. We really need to celebrate the earth day. Thanks for the information, it really provided me useful information for my project

Comments are closed.