Once again, Earth Day 2014 seems to be quite unnoticed except by vendors anxious to sell us “green products” packed in an enclosure produced from fossil fuels. At a time when needed most by our planet, the original intent, spirit, involvement and activism of the first Earth Day appears long forgotten. But as we face the challenges presented by our warming planet, intent, spirit, involvement, and activism are increasingly necessary.
The most apparent challenge is the continuing increase of greenhouse gas emissions, primarily resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels, as shown by the latest CO2 data from the Mauna Loa, Hawaii observatory. 
(Note: the regular, zig-zag, pattern of the data is a reflection of the impact of vegetation upon CO2 in the atmosphere. With a the larger land mass in the northern hemisphere, and the changing of the seasons, the low points of the zig-zag occur during the summer in the southern hemisphere and with the high points occurring during summer in the northern hemisphere.)
Carbon dioxide levels briefly surpassed 400ppm last spring and this year crossed that threshold on March 12th, a good 2 months earlier than in 2013. Mankind has never before experienced such high levels of carbon dioxide. 
With a current population of over 7.1 billion people, and a growth rate of 1.1%, the world is well on it’s way of reaching a global population of 8 billion by 2025. Population growth cannot be separated from greenhouse gas emissions, as more people simply means more emissions. In fact, the rate of emissions is compounded as large segments of developing nations gain the economic means to increase personal consumption. One needs only look at the situation in China, where rapid economic growth has resulted in drastically increased environmental pollution, becoming an issue of great concern to both the government and the Chinese citizenry. India will shortly follow China with a expanding economy and growing population.
This Earth Day is also witnessing an increased movement for social justice. The IPCC (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) held 3 international working conferences in the last several months to finalize the 3 volumes of the 5th Assessment Report on climate change, a major, 6-year project. Each of the meetings was marked by debate over the inclusion of content and recommendations on social justice, a debate that has pitted the developing nations against the developed nations. Primarily at issue is the argument that the developed nations responsible for the majority of the climate changing emissions, while the the burden of climate change is falling disproportionally on the developing nations, who are ill equipped to to pay for adaption measures. The argument is perhaps exacerbated by the “internet as a great leveler” highlighting the degree of economic disparity among the citizens of the world.
Social justice, population growth, and climate change are intertwined,and gaining momentum just as air and water pollution were the major forces behind the first Earth Day. Then, as now, our political leaders failed to act. But, the Earth Day movement rapidly became a global citizens movement, and our political leaders eventually followed by passing laws and funding environmentally oriented agencies to an extent never seen before, or after. Sadly our leaders now seem intent on undoing some of that effort and ignoring the climate change, social justice and population growth challenges of this Earth Day.
The challenges that face us today are of unprecidented magnitude and require a global solution. And that, is perhaps the greatest challenge of all, can we as citizens and nations work cooperatively to address the challenges, sharing the sacrifices necessary to ensure a livable planet for future generations.
