WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2010 " MANY SPECIES - ONE PLANET - ONE FUTURE "

World Environment Day 2010 - “Biodiversity — Ecosystems Management and the Green Economy”


We, human beings, behave as if we own this lone blue planet EARTH. But we must not forget the fact that we are just one of several million species taking shelter on this planet, however important we consider ourselves to be. It is estimated that about 2 million species call Earth their home.The interesting statistics is that it is just one species-Homo sapiens - whose population keeps soaring at a steady pace while that of most animals and plants keeps dwindling. It is crucial to remember this on this World Environment Day (WED) of 2010, which also happens to be the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB).

Realizing the importance of biodiversity for human welfare.UNEP has decided to reinforce the global efforts toward biodiversity conservation.. This clearly reflects this years WED theme ....

Beginning of the World Environment Day :
World Environment Day which is a world-famous event was founded by the UN General Assembly in 1972. Nearly, 100 nations around the globe celebrate this event. This event commemorates every year on June 5th.


The theme of "WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2010" IS "MANY SPECIES - ONE PLANET - ONE FUTURE"
It is high time to remind ourselves that we are also an integral part of "the web of life" and if we damage the web, we are putting our future in dilema.


THE THEMES OF THE PAST WERE :
World Environment Day 2009 Theme - "Your Planet Needs You - UNite to Combat Climate Change"
World Environment Day 2008 Theme - "Kick The Habit - Towards A Low Carbon Economy"
World Environment Day 2007 Theme - "Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?"
World Environment Day 2006 Theme - "Deserts and Desertification - Don't Desert Drylands!"
World Environment Day 2005 Theme - "Green Cities – Plan for the Planet!"
World Environment Day 2004 Theme - "Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?"
World Environment Day 2003 Theme - "Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It!"
World Environment Day 2002 Theme - "Give Earth a Chance"
World Environment Day 2001 Theme - "Connect with the World Wide Web of Life"
World Environment Day 2000 Theme - "The Environment Millennium - Time to Act"

Around 17,000 species are now threatened with imminent extinction. The more alarming fact is that many species are getting extinct before they are even discovered. Why biodiversity is being lost at an alarming rate? This may be caused by various factors but the major one is human activities involved in various developmental projects. We have cleared substantial portions of original forests, drained half of the world's wetlands, depleted 75% of global fish stocks and emitted tons of greenhouse gases(GHGs) to warm up the planet to alarming levels. We have accelerated extinction of species by 1000 times of natural rates.

Why should we care?
Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms on the earth and it underpins human well-being and the very survival of human species. It gives us food, clothes, fuel, medicines, and various other goods and ecosystem services. The loss of just one strand(one species) of the web of life can have catastrophic effects which in turn can imperil human welfare.

UNEP has identified 6 environmental challenges of the 21st century. They are:
" Climate change
" Disasters and conflicts
" Ecosystem management
" Environmental governance
" Harmful substances
" Resource efficiency

World Environment Day Celebrations and Activities in 2010 :

The World Environment Day Celebrations will be held on Friday, June 5, 2010. Pittsburgh has been selected by UNEP as the host city for World Environment Day 2010 in North America.

In Pittsburgh, World Environment Day events taking place during the six weeks that “bridge the gap” between Earth Day on April 22 and World Environment Day on June 5.

At local level we need 2 maintain sustainable & organic environment in HYDERABAD
The other day i read in newspaper that SCB is all set to ban PLASTIC BAGS . Lets welcome this measure & stop using plastic bags

~ Make your personal pledge to support the Environment :

- Reduce power consumption by turning off the lights when they are not being used

- Turn off computers when not in use

- Reduce petrol/diesel consumption by traveling by public transport or by walking

- Increase re-use and recycling, refusing to buy packaging

- Take re-useable shopping bags to the supermarket