what is the earth essay

English Compositions

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth [100, 200, 400 words] With PDF

Earth is the only planet that sustains life and ecosystems. In this lesson, you will learn to write essays in three different sets on the planet earth to help you in preparing for your upcoming examinations.

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Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 100 Words

Earth is a rare planet since it is the only one that can support life. On Earth, life is possible for various reasons, the most essential of which are the availability of water and the presence of oxygen. Earth is a member of the Solar System. The Earth, along with the other seven planets, orbits the Sun.

One spin takes approximately twenty-four hours, and one revolution takes 365 days and four hours. Day and night, as well as the changing of seasons, occurs due to rotation and revolution. However, we have jeopardized our planet by our sheer ignorance and negligence. We must practise conservation of resources and look after mother earth while we have time.

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 200 Words

Earth is a blue planet that is special from the rest of the planets because it is the only one to sustain life. The availability of water and oxygen are two of the most crucial factors that make life possible on Earth. The Earth rotates around the Sun, along with seven other planets in the solar system. It takes 24 hours to complete one rotation, and approximately 365 days and 4 hours to complete one revolution. Day and night, as well as changing seasons, are all conceivable due to these two movements.

However, we are wasting and taking advantage of the natural resources that have been bestowed upon us. Overuse and exploitation of all-natural resources produce pollution to such an alarming degree that life on Earth is on the verge of extinction. The depletion of the ozone layer has resulted in global warming. The melting of glaciers has resulted in rising temperatures.

Many animals have become extinct or are endangered. To protect the environment, we must work together. Conversation, resource reduction, reuse, and recycling will take us a long way toward restoring the natural ecosystem. We are as unique as our home planet. We have superior intelligence, which we must employ for the benefit of all living beings. The Earth is our natural home, and we must create a place that is as good as, if not better than, paradise.

Short Essay on Our Planet Earth in 400 Words

Earth is a unique planet as it is the only planet that sustains life. Life is possible on Earth because of many reasons, and the most important among them is the availability of water and oxygen. Earth is a part of the family of the Sun. It belongs to the Solar System.

Earth, along with seven other planets, revolves around the Sun. It takes roughly twenty-four hours to complete one rotation and 365 days and 4 hours to complete one revolution. Rotation and revolution make day and night and change of seasons simultaneously possible. The five seasons we experience in one revolution are Spring, Summer, Monsoon, Autumn, and Winter.

However, we are misusing resources and exploiting the natural gifts that have been so heavily endowed upon us. Overuse and misuse of all the natural resources are causing pollution to such an extent that it has become alarming to the point of destruction. The most common form of pollution caused upon the earth by us is Air Pollution, Land Pollution, Water Pollution, and Noise Pollution.

This, in turn, had resulted in Ozone Layer Depletion and Global Warming. Due to ozone layer depletion, there harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun are reaching the earth. It, in turn, is melting glaciers and causing a rise in temperature every year. Many animals have either extinct or are endangered due to human activities.

Some extinct animals worldwide are Sabre-toothed Cat, Woolly Mammoth, Dodo, Great Auk, Stellers Sea Cow, Tasmanian Tiger, Passenger Pigeon, Pyrenean Ibex. The extinct animals in the Indian subcontinent are the Indian Cheetah, pink-headed duck, northern Sumatran rhinoceros, and Sunderban dwarf rhinoceros.

The endangered animals that are in need of our immediate attention in India are Royal Bengal Tiger, Snow leopard, Red panda, Indian rhinoceros, Nilgiri tahr, Asiatic lion, Ganges river dolphin, Gharial and Hangul, among others. We have exploited fossil fuels to such an extent that now we run the risk of using them completely. We must switch to alternative sources of energy that are nature friendly. Solar power, windmills, hydra power should be used more often, and deforestation must be made illegal worldwide.

We must come together to preserve the natural environment. Conversation, reduction, reuse and recycling of the resources will take us a long way in rebuilding the natural habitat. We are as unique as our planet earth. We have higher intelligence, and we must use it for the well-being of all living organisms. The Earth is our natural abode, and we must make a place as close to Paradise, if not better.

Hopefully, after going through this lesson, you have a holistic idea about our planet Earth. I have tried to cover every aspect that makes it unique and the reasons to practise conversation of natural resources. If you still have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. To read more such essays on many important topics, keep browsing our website.

Join us on Telegram to get the latest updates on our upcoming sessions. Thank you, see you again soon.

the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 in 1972

Planet Earth, explained

Our home planet provides us with life and protects us from space.

Earth, our home planet, is a world unlike any other. The third planet from the sun, Earth is the only place in the known universe confirmed to host life.

With a radius of 3,959 miles, Earth is the fifth largest planet in our solar system, and it's the only one known for sure to have liquid water on its surface. Earth is also unique in terms of monikers. Every other solar system planet was named for a Greek or Roman deity, but for at least a thousand years, some cultures have described our world using the Germanic word “earth,” which means simply “the ground.”

Our dance around the sun

Earth orbits the sun once every 365.25 days. Since our calendar years have only 365 days, we add an extra leap day every four years to account for the difference.

Though we can't feel it, Earth zooms through its orbit at an average velocity of 18.5 miles a second. During this circuit, our planet is an average of 93 million miles away from the sun, a distance that takes light about eight minutes to traverse. Astronomers define this distance as one astronomical unit (AU), a measure that serves as a handy cosmic yardstick.

Earth rotates on its axis every 23.9 hours, defining day and night for surface dwellers. This axis of rotation is tilted 23.4 degrees away from the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun, giving us seasons. Whichever hemisphere is tilted closer to the sun experiences summer, while the hemisphere tilted away gets winter. In the spring and fall, each hemisphere receives similar amounts of light. On two specific dates each year—called the equinoxes—both hemispheres get illuminated equally.

Many layers, many features

About 4.5 billion years ago, gravity coaxed Earth to form from the gaseous, dusty disk that surrounded our young sun. Over time, Earth's interior—which is made mostly of silicate rocks and metals—differentiated into four layers.

For Hungry Minds

At the planet's heart lies the inner core, a solid sphere of iron and nickel that's 759 miles wide and as hot as 9,800 degrees Fahrenheit. The inner core is surrounded by the outer core, a 1,400-mile-thick band of iron and nickel fluids. Beyond the outer core lies the mantle, a 1,800-mile-thick layer of viscous molten rock on which Earth's outermost layer, the crust, rests. On land, the continental crust is an average of 19 miles thick, but the oceanic crust that forms the seafloor is thinner—about three miles thick—and denser.

Like Venus and Mars, Earth has mountains, valleys, and volcanoes. But unlike its rocky siblings, almost 70 percent of Earth's surface is covered in oceans of liquid water that average 2.5 miles deep. These bodies of water contain 97 percent of Earth's volcanoes and the mid-ocean ridge , a massive mountain range more than 40,000 miles long.

4.5 billion years ago, another planet crashed into Earth. We may have found its leftovers.

The moon is even older than we thought

9 spectacular night sky events to see in 2024

Earth's crust and upper mantle are divided into massive plates that grind against each other in slow motion. As these plates collide, tear apart, or slide past each other, they give rise to our very active geology. Earthquakes rumble as these plates snag and slip past each other. Many volcanoes form as seafloor crust smashes into and slides beneath continental crust. When plates of continental crust collide, mountain ranges such as the Himalaya are pushed toward the skies.

Protective fields and gases

Earth's atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and one percent other gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and argon. Much like a greenhouse, this blanket of gases absorbs and retains heat. On average, Earth's surface temperature is about 57 degrees Fahrenheit; without our atmosphere, it'd be zero degrees . In the last two centuries, humans have added enough greenhouse gases to the atmosphere to raise Earth's average temperature by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit . This extra heat has altered Earth's weather patterns in many ways .

The atmosphere not only nourishes life on Earth, but it also protects it: It's thick enough that many meteorites burn up before impact from friction, and its gases—such as ozone—block DNA-damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the surface. But for all that our atmosphere does, it's surprisingly thin. Ninety percent of Earth's atmosphere lies within just 10 miles of the planet's surface .

a woman standing near the Northern Lights

The silhouette of a woman is seen on a Norwegian island beneath the Northern Lights ( aurora borealis ).

We also enjoy protection from Earth's magnetic field, generated by our planet's rotation and its iron-nickel core. This teardrop-shaped field shields Earth from high-energy particles launched at us from the sun and elsewhere in the cosmos. But due to the field's structure, some particles get funneled to Earth's Poles and collide with our atmosphere, yielding aurorae, the natural fireworks show known by some as the northern lights.

Spaceship Earth

Earth is the planet we have the best opportunity to understand in detail—helping us see how other rocky planets behave, even those orbiting distant stars. As a result, scientists are increasingly monitoring Earth from space. NASA alone has dozens of missions dedicated to solving our planet's mysteries.

At the same time, telescopes are gazing outward to find other Earths. Thanks to instruments such as NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have found more than 3,800 planets orbiting other stars, some of which are about the size of Earth , and a handful of which orbit in the zones around their stars that are just the right temperature to be potentially habitable. Other missions, such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, are poised to find even more.

Is there a 9th planet out there? We may soon find out.

Earth is a geological oddball in our solar system. This is why.

Did Pluto ever actually stop being a planet? Experts debate.

How did life on Earth begin? Here are 3 popular theories.

800,000 years ago, a huge meteorite hit Earth. Scientists may have just found where.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Earth Science — The Beauty of Earth: An Essay on the Magnificence of Our Planet

The Beauty of Earth: an Essay on The Magnificence of Our Planet

Categories: Earth Science

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Words: 598 |

Published: Mar 8, 2024

Words: 598 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

The natural wonders of earth, the diverse inhabitants of earth, preserving the beauty of earth.

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Save Earth Essay

Essay on Save Earth

Each living being on Earth knows the importance of Earth in our lives. Without Earth, we cannot even imagine living. Have you ever thought how we would walk if there is no Earth, there will be no water to drink, there will not be animals living here, and of course, no cultivation, so no food to eat. This means to say that the life of humans, as well as other living beings, cannot be imagined without Earth.

Life is possible on the planet Earth and its related resources. Can you imagine a life on the Earth if resources are not available here. And, the answer comes not at all. The resources like air, sunlight, water, creatures, minerals, and vegetation are integral parts of the Earth. But with the increasing level of pollution, these resources are getting affected and either humans are destroying or depleting recklessly. If we have not taken a calculative step to save the Earth, it is going to be difficult to establish a sustainable future on the earth. Let’s understand why is it so crucial to save the Earth from these things:

WhyiIs Saving The Earth Necessary?

In order to save the earth, we must understand that resources that are provided by earth are limited. However, the majority of us are unaware of this fact and we are not judiciously utilizing the resources. In order to safeguard the existence of humans, we need to protect the earth and take care of it. All living beings are dependent on the earth for their survival and so we should use the gist of nature in a thoughtful way. The increase in pollution and damage caused by humans are affecting the earth so rapidly that it is threatening our survival.

Saving earth is not merely the need of the hour but much more. The extent of degradation caused by humans is becoming irreparable. This is one of the reasons why all the resources are getting highly polluted. The change in climate is also one of the examples that are caused due to severe pollution. Moreover, animals, birds are getting extinct and the worlds around us are slowly approaching the end. Nothing could be scarier than this. Therefore, saving the earth is the primary need and we should make conscious decisions to make the earth a better and sustainable place to live in.

It is and has been our responsibility to protect the planet that we live in but rather we become selfish and do such things that create more pollution in our environment. As the most evolved species of the environment, we should understand that our planet is the only planet that supports life. So when the earth will be in peril, we will not have the option to move to another planet for our safety.

Hence, it is important to make the most use of what we have right now in a sustainable manner. Our approach will not only save the earth but our lives as well. Moreover, our future generation will be bestowed with a healthy environment to live in.

Ten Simple Things to Save the Earth

Live by the mantra- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Keep our surroundings clean

Plant more trees

Conserve water and water bodies

Educate people about the significance of conserving nature

Shop wisely

Cycle more and drive fewer cars on the road

Use LED lights

Don’t discharge industrial effluents in the river or other water bodies

Choose sustainability in every step of life

Therefore, by making small changes in our lifestyle we can make a huge difference. By restoring ecological balance, we can save the earth from getting dreadfully polluted and uninhabitable.

FAQs on Save Earth Essay

Why is Earth an important planet?

We all know the importance of Earth in our lives as it is the planet where we all live. This is one of the crucial planets in our system. Here, other species also live along with human beings. In order to write an effective essay on Earth, we can mention the importance of Earth in our lives. Ask questions about how life will be if there is no Earth. Will there be a life or not? This way, you can get the correct answers to write interesting things about Earth.

How can we make efforts to save our beautiful planet Earth?

There are a number of ways with which it is possible for us to save Earth. The first thing is to conserve water. Always remember even the little things are going to create a difference. The second thing is to embrace compositing as it itself is a real difference. The third thing is that we all should be car-canaware, we try to use public transport as much as possible. And, the most crucial is to take part in plantations. Remember that each step counts and each step is going to make a difference then why this difference is not from you!

What are the concerning factors about Earth?

We all are aware of the fact due to the persistent torture of humans on the Earth, there are a few matters of concern that need to adressed immediately. We rotation of the Earth has slowed down gradually, so we all need to come in its rescue collectively. There is a single satellite on the Earth planet that has to be taken care of. The Earth is the densest planet on the Earth where factors like global warming have to be tackled. These all are the alarming situations that have to be resolved with collective efforts.

Is it true that Vedantu provides free access to essays on Earth?

Yes, you have heard it right that Vedantu provides the study material for free for students of all the grades. And, it is not only due to a free platform that Vedantu earned fame but these are the top quality parameters that made them come first in the list of the students as well as parents. Adding to this, our team guides the students to polish their skills as well as assists them to stay well-prepared for the final examination.

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Save Earth Essay

Earth is the only known planet with life in the universe. As a result, we must cherish and preserve whatever we obtain from our mother planet. We must protect Mother Earth so that future generations can live in a safe environment. Here are a few sample essays on the topic “Save the Earth”.

100 Words Essay On Save Earth

Apart from Earth, there is no other known planet where life is feasible. It is the only known planet with the combination of the essential natural resources, oxygen, water, and gravity, allowing for a successful life. We must protect the planet by implementing numerous practical steps to leave a healthy world for future generations. People should plant more trees to ensure adequate oxygen levels and to mitigate the effects of air pollution and global warming.

We must stop destroying rainforests, which are vital to our way of life, the atmosphere, and the habitats of numerous animals. To rescue the environment from global warming, people should reduce their use of power and use less fossil fuel. To avoid damaging the planet, they should promote the usage of solar lights and wind energy. The 3R rule (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) is quite helpful in conserving our planet.

200 Words Essay On Save Earth

Earth is the most valuable thing to its inhabitants because it contains oxygen and water, both of which are necessary for life. The earth's natural resources are deteriorating day by day as a result of different human activities. It endangers life on Earth. Several woodland animals have become extinct due to a lack of a suitable environment.

Pollution, global warming, and other environmental challenges are becoming more prevalent daily. It is critical to end all bad practices to mitigate their detrimental impacts. Every year on April 22nd, Earth Day is observed to raise awareness among people all around the world. It is marked annually to recognise people's efforts to preserve the earth's natural environment.

Our earth requires us to take care of it and leave it in a better condition that we found it. It is necessary to continue healthy life on Earth. We are not the only ones living on Earth; several unknown living species exist.

So, instead of being selfish, we should consider the well being all living species on the planet. We should safeguard our planet and ecology by lowering the amount of garbage, such as plastic, paper, and wood. To reduce waste, we should practice reusing and recycling items such as clothing, toys, furniture, books, and documents. We must reduce all those activities contributing to increased pollution and global warming.

500 Words Essay On Save Earth

Earth and its resources enable life to exist on it. It would be impossible to envision our life without these resources because life cannot exist without sunlight, air, vegetation, and water. However, this will soon become our reality if we do not save the planet today.

The resources that the earth supplies are limited. They are blessings that we do not recognise. Humans have become selfish and are rapidly depleting the earth's resources. We must safeguard them to preserve our own life. This is because man and all living species rely on the planet for sustenance.

It Is The Need Of The Hour

To argue that safeguarding the environment is urgent would be an understatement. Human actions motivated by greed and selfishness have wreaked havoc on the environment. It has been damaged beyond repair. Because of these activities, almost all natural resources are now poisoned.

When all of these resources are threatened, the lives of all living organisms are in jeopardy. This is why we must save the planet at any cost. All other concerns are secondary, with the primary priority preserving the environment. Because when the world ceases to exist, all other difficulties will vanish.

Earth is the only planet capable of supporting life. We need a planet B to which we can travel. This heightens the urgency of saving the planet and our life. We will lose the opportunity to watch our future generations thrive if we do not take extreme action today. Everyone must band together for the exact causes because we are first and foremost inhabitants of this planet.

How To Save The Earth

Humans only need to take action to conserve the earth and its resources because all human activities impact the existence of other organisms. Everyone will benefit from a little extra effort. Every action will have an effect. For example, if one person decides to quit drinking bottled water, thousands of pounds of plastic can be avoided.

Furthermore, we should begin by planting more trees to compensate for the tremendous deforestation. We can restore ecological balance and improve people's quality of life by planting more trees.

Similarly, we must reduce water waste. Individually, this will have a significant influence on water conservation. We must not contaminate our bodies of water by putting rubbish into them. It is critical to conserve water, especially when rapidly running short.

We can conserve the planet by preserving trees, vegetation, water, natural resources, and power. We must firmly adhere to all available measures to control pollution and global warming. Everyone should plant more trees in their neighbourhoods to help reduce pollution and the effects of global warming. Afforestation, reforestation, recycling of used paper and other natural products, and conservation of natural resources, power, water, and the environment should be supported and promoted.

To summarise, the government and individuals must work together to save the planet. We can educate people about the repercussions of not saving the earth. They can be taught how and what they can do to help save the planet. We can save our world and make it brighter if we all work together.

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All About Earth

Our home planet Earth is a rocky, terrestrial planet. It has a solid and active surface with mountains, valleys, canyons, plains and so much more. Earth is special because it is an ocean planet. Water covers 70% of Earth's surface.

Explore Earth! Click and drag to rotate Earth. Scroll or pinch to zoom in and out. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

Our atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen and has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. The atmosphere also protects us from incoming meteoroids , most of which break up in our atmosphere before they can strike the surface as meteorites.

Since we live here, you might think we know all there is to know about Earth. Not at all, actually! We have a lot we can learn about our home planet. Right now, there are many satellites orbiting Earth taking pictures and measurements. This is how we can learn more about weather, oceans, soil, climate change , and many other important topics.

a cartoon of a smiling Earth saying, Life is great!

Structure and Surface

Earth is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
Earth's atmosphere is the right thickness to keep the planet warm so living things like us can be there. It’s the only planet in our solar system we know of that supports life. It is mostly nitrogen, and it has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe.

Time on Earth

A day on Earth lasts a little under 24 hours.
One year on Earth lasts 365.25 days. That 0.25 extra means every four years we need to add one day to our calendar. We call it a leap day (in a leap year ).

Earth’s Neighbors

Earth has just one Moon. It is the only planet to have just one moon.
Earth has lots of spacecraft watching it. There is still a lot we can learn about our home planet.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun in our solar system. That means Venus and Mars are Earth’s neighboring planets.

Quick History

We have known about our planet since ancient times, of course. But we didn’t know our place in the solar system for a long time.

What does Earth look like?

A photo of Earth in the background looking very small. The moon's surface is in the foreground, so Earth is rising over the moon.

This Apollo 11 picture taken by an astronaut in 1969 shows the Earth rising over the Moon. Doesn't it look small?

A photo of the northern portion of the Earth. Swirls of white cover it.

This is a view of Earth looking just at the northern portion.

A photo of Earth showing North and South America, oceans, and swirling clouds.

A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite took this picture of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away.

For more information visit:

Earth. Your home. Our Mission.

Related Resources for Educators

Real World: A-Train Our World: A-Train Real World: Earth Systems

Explore the Solar System

a cartoon of the Sun with a smiling face.

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Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Our Beautiful Earth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

Introduction.

Our Beautiful Earth is a unique planet brimming with life and beauty. It’s the only known celestial body to support life, making it extraordinary.

Earth’s Beauty

Earth’s beauty is diverse, from towering mountains to deep oceans. The changing seasons further enhance its charm, each bringing its own magic.

Nature’s Wonders

The Earth is home to various species of plants and animals. The diversity in ecosystems, from dense forests to arid deserts, is truly amazing.

Our Responsibility

As inhabitants, it’s our responsibility to preserve Earth’s beauty. By practicing sustainable living, we can ensure a healthy planet for future generations.

250 Words Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

Introduction: a blue marble in space.

Our beautiful Earth, a celestial body in the solar system, is an awe-inspiring testament to the universe’s capacity for life. It is a unique oasis, a ‘blue marble’ as seen from space, with its swirling clouds, blue oceans, and green landmasses.

The Earth’s Biodiversity

Earth’s biodiversity is a marvel, with millions of species coexisting in various ecosystems. From the microscopic organisms dwelling in the deepest trenches of the oceans to the gigantic mammals roaming the vast savannahs, Earth is a cradle of life. The intricate web of life forms an interconnected system, where each species plays a crucial role in maintaining the overall balance.

Earth’s Geographical Wonders

The geographical wonders of Earth are equally mesmerizing. Towering mountain ranges, expansive deserts, lush rainforests, tranquil lakes, and roaring rivers all contribute to the planet’s stunning beauty. Each geographical feature represents a different facet of Earth’s dynamic nature, shaped by millions of years of geological processes.

Human Interaction with Earth

Humans, as intelligent beings, have the privilege and responsibility of interacting with Earth in a mindful manner. Our actions can either enhance Earth’s beauty or lead to its degradation. The current environmental crisis is a stark reminder of the consequences of irresponsible interaction. Therefore, it is imperative to adopt sustainable practices to preserve Earth’s beauty for future generations.

Conclusion: A Call for Preservation

Our beautiful Earth is an irreplaceable gem in the vast cosmos. As we marvel at its beauty, we must also remember our duty to protect and preserve it. The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. In this understanding lies the key to ensuring the continued beauty and vitality of our shared home.

500 Words Essay on Our Beautiful Earth

The splendor of our beautiful earth.

The Earth, our shared home, is an enchanting spectacle of life, diversity, and beauty. Its grandeur is not confined to its biological diversity, but extends to its geographical peculiarities, climatic variations, and the intricate harmony that exists among its various elements.

Geographical Diversity

Earth’s geographical diversity is a testament to its beauty. From the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sandy dunes of the Sahara, the geographical variations are profound. The verdant Amazon rainforest, the expansive savannas of Africa, the serene beaches of the Caribbean, and the icy landscapes of the Arctic, all contribute to the Earth’s stunning panorama. Each geographical feature holds a unique charm, offering a different perspective of beauty.

Climatic Variations

The climatic variations on Earth further add to its allure. The Earth’s tilt and revolution result in distinct seasons, each with its unique characteristics. The blossoming of flowers in spring, the warmth of summer, the falling leaves of autumn, and the serenity of winter, all present a cyclic spectacle of change and renewal. These climatic variations not only add to the Earth’s beauty but also play a crucial role in the survival and evolution of various species.

Biodiversity: The Earth’s Living Tapestry

Earth’s biodiversity is another aspect that accentuates its beauty. It is home to an estimated 8.7 million species, each with its unique traits and roles in the ecosystem. From the microscopic organisms in the ocean depths to the majestic elephants in the African plains, life on Earth is a vibrant tapestry of interdependence and co-existence. This biodiversity is a testament to the Earth’s capacity to sustain life in all its forms, adding to the planet’s aesthetic and intrinsic value.

The Harmony of Earth

Perhaps the most striking feature of our beautiful Earth is the harmony that exists among its various elements. The water cycle, carbon cycle, and nitrogen cycle are all examples of how different components of the Earth interact to maintain balance. This intricate harmony is a testament to the Earth’s resilience and its ability to support life. The Earth’s beauty lies not just in its individual components, but in the way these components interact and co-exist to create a balanced and sustainable system.

While we marvel at the Earth’s beauty, we must also acknowledge our responsibility towards its preservation. The Earth’s beauty is under threat due to human activities like deforestation, pollution, and climate change. As inhabitants of this beautiful planet, it is our duty to protect and preserve it for future generations.

In conclusion, our Earth is a beautiful entity, a complex amalgamation of various elements working in harmony. Its beauty lies in its diversity, its capacity to sustain life, and its resilience. As we continue to explore and understand our planet, let’s also strive to protect and preserve its beauty. After all, there is no Planet B.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on My Earth My Responsibility
Essay on Importance of Earth
Essay on Importance of Earth Day

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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School Education /

Essay on Earth Day in 150, 250, and 450 words

Updated on
Feb 3, 2024

Essay on Earth Day: Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year to protect our planet. The day was first celebrated in the year 1970 to raise awareness about issues such as climate change, pollution, and environment conservation that threaten the natural resources of the Earth.

Earth Day has been celebrated as a mission that is celebrated worldwide with different activities, campaigns, and events that help people and communities take initiatives like planting trees and conserving water to protect the environment and its sustainability.

Also Read: Speech on Deforestation for Students in English

Table of Contents

1 Essay on Earth Day 150 words
2 Essay on Earth Day 250 words
3 Essay on Earth Day 450+ words

Essay on Earth Day 150 words

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, by a group of environmental activists. It was first proposed by peace activist John McConnell and was further popularised by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson. On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million Americans participated in the awareness campaign about the issues of pollution, spills of oils, loss of wilderness, and pesticides.

The aim of celebrating Earth Day was to promote practices that can help protect the environment, such as planting trees, participating in recycling programmes, consuming less electricity, and saving water. The idea behind the celebration of Earth Day was to promote practices that can help protect the environment, such as planting trees, participating in recycling programmes, consuming less electricity, and reducing water consumption.

Earth Day reminds us that we all share a responsibility to take care of the Earth. It is a day to focus on our continuous efforts for the preservation of the globe and the reduction of human impact on the climate and environment.

Also Read: Long Speech on Efficiency of Recycling in English

Essay on Earth Day 250 words

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year. The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970. Earth Day was founded to raise awareness about certain environmental issues like pollution, deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity. Since then, Earth Day has been celebrated every year globally by over 1 billion people in more than 190 countries. This day motivates people to take care of the environment in the same way nature takes care of her child.

On this day, parents and teachers should start teaching children about the importance of nature and how their actions can help or harm the environment. To secure the environment for future generations, it is important to involve the little ones in activities such as planting trees and inspiring them to feel connected to nature.

Earth Day teaches children about the critical threats to the environment, like changes in the environment, direct exploitation of natural resources, groundwater extraction, and overfishing. Early learning about the threats related to the environment can help the child live sustainably. Furthermore, Earth Day also teaches children to take responsibility for daily actions that help make a difference for the betterment of the environment. Simple acts like turning off the lights, recycling, reusing, and composting, and helping them plant plants, give children a chance to make a difference.

Thus, Earth Day serves as an important platform for encouraging environmental awareness among the elders as well as teaching the children about eco-friendly practices. It builds a sense of responsibility and motivation in both generations for active participation, protection, and preservation of the environment for the future.

Also Read: Speech on Waste Management for School Students

22 Minutes with Dr. Janet Swim https://t.co/gNbKQD75X3 — EARTHDAY.ORG (@EarthDay) January 22, 2024

Essay on Earth Day 450+ words

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 all over the world. It began in the year 1970 as a day to demonstrate the importance and support of the environment for living beings. The day afterward has grown into the massive contribution of people to the preservation of nature. Over one million people every year take part in the activities of Earth Day.

People on Earth Day come together from every part of the world to raise awareness regarding the challenges faced by our planet. To solve such challenges, a list of campaigns is set up for activities such as planting trees and picking up roadside litter, and projects on conservation are implemented. To add value to the day, people also hold rallies and concerts to increase awareness and understanding of the environment and the science of climate change.

Earth Day is an important day that helps school students learn about issues related to the environment. Many schools organize programs and set up educational camps to highlight crucial topics like pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and changes in climatic conditions. The motive of these activities is to teach and inspire the students regarding the importance and protection of the environment. One such initiative is Earth School by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TED-Ed to take children in natural settings for 30 days.

In India, on Earth Day, schools, colleges, and universities take the initiative to teach students about the problems of the environment, such as air pollution, trash management, water scarcity, and the loss of forests. The academic institutions also organize events such as poster-making, essay writing, quiz contests, and clean-up drives in the local areas. Some environmental organizations also organise public events for discussion regarding the challenges facing India´s environment and its potential solutions.

The aim of celebrating Earth Day is to educate children as well as elders regarding the real-world problems that impact the planet. Hands-on activities such as practices to keep the park and road clean encourage the students to become citizens who are environmentally aware of the problems as well as of possible solutions. With the correct information and collective actions, we can solve our problems with the environment and build a cleaner and greener future.

In conclusion, Earth Day involves people as well as countries worldwide to protect our shared planet. According to data from the United Nations Environmental Programme, approximately 1.9 billion trees are planted every year, and countries are coming up with projects as well as implementations to improve the quality of the air, reduce erosion, and absorb carbon emissions. Earth Day comes every year to bear responsibility for the present as well as build a sustainable future for Mother Earth.

Also Read: Speech on Pollution: Free Samples for Students in English

Ans. The aim of celebrating Earth Day is to educate as well as the elders regarding the real-world problems that impact people as well as the planet.

Ans. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, by a group of environmental activists. It was first proposed by peace activist John McConnell and further gained worldwide popularity by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson. On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million Americans participated in the awareness campaign about the issues of pollution, spills of oils, loss of wilderness, and pesticides. The aim of celebrating Earth Day was to promote practices that can help protect the environment, such as planting trees, participating in recycling programmes, consuming less electricity, and saving water.

Ans. The motive of the student activities is to teach and inspire the students regarding the importance and protection of the environment.

Ans. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year. The day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970.

Ans. Earth Day involves people and countries worldwide to protect our shared planet. According to data from the United Nations Environmental Programme, approximately 1.9 billion trees are planted yearly, and countries are coming up with projects and implementations to improve air quality, reduce erosion, and absorb carbon emissions.

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Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with expertise in creating educational and informative content. She has a year of experience writing content for speeches, essays, NCERT, study abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and ananlysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particulary in education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs with related to her field to further expand her expertise. In personal life, she loves creative writing and aspire to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Earth Structure

The structure of the earth is divided into four major components: the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. Each layer has a unique chemical composition, physical state, and can impact life on Earth's surface. Movement in the mantle caused by variations in heat from the core, cause the plates to shift, which can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. These natural hazards then change our landscape, and in some cases, threaten lives and property. Learn more about how the earth is constructed with these classroom resources.

Earth Science, Geology, Geography, Physical Geography

How did Earth form?

Earth's origins remain a conundrum.

This artistic visualization shows Earth today (right) vs Earth 4.5 billion years ago (left).

The core accretion model?
The disk instability model
Pebble accretion

Additional resources

Earth's formation remains a strange, scientific mystery.

We live on a planet in a solar system with seven other planets and have discovered thousands of exoplanets to date. But how planets like Earth form still remains a subject of great debate.

Currently, there are two leading theories on planetary formation. Scientists continue to study planets in and out of our solar system in an effort to better understand which of these theories most accurately describes how the solar system and its planets formed.

The first and most widely accepted theory is the core accretion model, which works well to explain the formation of terrestrial planets like Earth but doesn't fully account for giant planets. The second theory, called the disk instability method, may account for the creation of larger planets. These two leading theories are joined by the pebble accretion theory which helps to additionally explain how different objects might form.

Related: Earth's layers: Exploring our planet inside and out

What is the core accretion model?

Artist's conception of our solar system's solar nebula, the cloud of gas and dust from which Earth, the sun and our solar system's other planets planets formed.

Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system was just a cloud of dust and gas known as a solar nebula. Gravity collapsed the material in on itself as it began to spin, condensing the matter and forming the sun in the center of the nebula.

With the sun beginning to form, the remaining material started to clump up . Small particles drew together, bound by the force of gravity, into larger particles. The solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles that emanate from the sun's upper atmosphere, swept away lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium.

This left behind heavy, rocky materials that formed smaller terrestrial worlds like Earth. And farther away from the sun, the solar wind had less of an impact on lighter elements which allowed these elements to coalesce into gas giants. This process created our solar system's asteroids , comets , planets and moons.

Earth's rocky core formed first, with heavy elements colliding and binding together. Dense material sank to the protoplanet's center while lighter material built up the crust. Earth's magnetic field is thought to have likely formed around this time.

Early in its evolution, Earth suffered an impact by a large body that catapulted pieces of the young planet's mantle into space. Gravity pulled many of these pieces together to form the moon, which took up orbit around its creator.

The late-stage phase of planet formation with protoplanets and planetismals is seen in this artist's depiction.

The flow of the mantle beneath Earth's crust causes plate tectonics, the movement of the large plates of rock on the planet's surface. Collisions and friction gave rise to mountains and volcanoes, which began to spew gases.

When Earth first formed it had barely any atmosphere . Its atmosphere began to form as the planet started to cool and gravity captured gases from Earth's volcanoes.

While the population of comets and asteroids passing through the inner solar system is sparse today, they were more abundant when the planets and sun were young. Collisions between these cosmic bodies likely deposited much of the water on Earth's surface.

Our planet lies in what is known as the Goldilocks zone, a region surrounding a star that is close enough for liquid water to exist on a planet's surface, with water neither freezing nor evaporating. Many scientists think that being in this zone, and the presence of liquid water, plays a key role in the existence of life .

An artistic conception of the early Earth-moon system showing the Earth's surface after being bombarded with large impacts, causing magma extrusion on the surface, though some liquid water was retained. Image released on July 30, 2014.

In observing exoplanets, scientists think that this core accretion model fits as the dominant formation process.

Stars with more "metals" — a term astronomers use for all chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium — in their cores host more giant planets than their metal-poor cousins. According to NASA , core accretion suggests that small, rocky worlds should be more common than the more massive gas giants.

One finding that has helped to strengthen core accretion's legitimacy as an explanation for planet formation is the 2005 discovery of a giant planet with a massive core orbiting the sun-like star HD 149026.

"This is a confirmation of the core accretion theory for planet formation and evidence that planets of this kind should exist in abundance," said Greg Henry in a press release . Henry, an astronomer at Tennessee State University, Nashville, detected the dimming of the star.

In 2019, the European Space Agency launched the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS), which was designed to study exoplanets ranging in sizes from super-Earths to Neptune. With missions like this and others, scientists aim to study distant worlds to grow their understanding of how planets in different solar systems likely formed.

"In the core accretion scenario, the core of a planet must reach a critical mass before it is able to accrete gas in a runaway fashion," said the CHEOPS team . "This critical mass depends upon many physical variables, among the most important of which is the rate of planetesimals accretion."

Related: How fast is Earth moving?

What is the disk instability model?

While the core accretion model works for terrestrial planets, gas giants would need to evolve rapidly to grab hold of the significant mass of lighter gases they contain. But simulations with that model have not been able to account for this rapid formation. In those simulations, the process takes several million years, which is longer than light gases were available in the early solar system.

But the core accretion model isn't the only explanation for how planets might come to be.

According to a newer theory, disk instability , clumps of dust and gas bind together early in the solar system's existence. Over time, these clumps can slowly compact into a giant planet. These planets can form faster than those that form within the core accretion explanation, sometimes in as little as a thousand years, which allows them to trap the rapidly-vanishing lighter gases. These planets also quickly reach an orbit-stabilizing mass that keeps them from death-marching into the sun.

According to exoplanetary astronomer Paul Wilson , if disk instability dominates the formation of planets, it should produce a wide number of worlds at large orders. The four giant planets orbiting at significant distances around the star HD 9799 provides observational evidence for disk instability.

Fomalhaut b , an exoplanet with a 2,000-year orbit around its star, could serve as an example of a world formed through disk instability, though the planet could also have been ejected due to interactions with its neighbors.

What is pebble accretion?

A visualization of a dusty disk orbiting a young star.

The disk instability model contends with the core accretion model's issue with time; specifically how quickly massive gas giants would have to grab lighter components. But another, recent model known as pebble accretion, also helps to fill in this explanatory gap.

In this model, researchers have shown how smaller, pebble-sized objects could have fused together to build giant planets up to 1000 times faster than in other explanations.

"This is the first model that we know about that you start out with a pretty simple structure for the solar nebula from which planets form, and end up with the giant-planet system that we see," Harold Levison, an astronomer at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Colorado and lead study author of a paper describing and exploring the model, told Space.com in 2015.

A few years earlier, in 2012, researchers Michiel Lambrechts and Anders Johansen from Lund University in Sweden proposed that tiny pebbles, once written off, held the key to rapidly building giant planets.

"They showed that the leftover pebbles from this formation process, which previously were thought to be unimportant, could actually be a huge solution to the planet-forming problem," Levison said.

Levison and his team built on that research to model more precisely how tiny pebbles could form planets seen in the galaxy today. In previous simulations, both large and medium-sized objects consumed their pebble-sized cousins at a relatively constant rate, but Levison's simulations suggest that the larger objects acted more like bullies, snatching away pebbles from the mid-sized masses to grow at a much faster rate.

"The larger objects now tend to scatter the smaller ones more than the smaller ones scatter them back, so the smaller ones end up getting scattered out of the pebble disk," study co-author Katherine Kretke, also from SwRI, told Space.com. "The bigger guy basically bullies the smaller one so they can eat all the pebbles themselves, and they can continue to grow up to form the cores of the giant planets."

As scientists continue to study planets inside and outside of the solar system, they will better understand how Earth and its siblings formed.

Visit NASA's hub for understanding Earth as a planet.
Explore NASA's kid-friendly resources for learning about Earth.
Browse NASA's hub for understanding exoplanets.

This article was updated on Jan. 5, 2022 by Space.com senior writer Chelsea Gohd

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Nola Taylor Tillman is a contributing writer for Space.com. She loves all things space and astronomy-related, and enjoys the opportunity to learn more. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Astrophysics from Agnes Scott college and served as an intern at Sky & Telescope magazine. In her free time, she homeschools her four children. Follow her on Twitter at @NolaTRedd

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What Is Earth Science?

Article by: hobart m. king , phd, rpg.

Earth Science is the study of Earth and its neighbors in space. The image above is the first full-hemisphere view of Earth captured in the 21st Century. It was acquired by NOAA's GOES-8 satellite on January 1, 2000 at 12:45 AM Eastern Standard Time. Image by the GOES project.

Introduction

Earth Science is the study of the Earth and its neighbors in space. It is an exciting science with many interesting and practical applications. Some Earth scientists use their knowledge of the Earth to locate and develop energy and mineral resources. Others study the impact of human activity on Earth's environment, and design methods to protect the planet. Some use their knowledge about Earth processes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes to plan communities that will not expose people to these dangerous events.

The Four Earth Sciences

Many different sciences are used to learn about the Earth; however, the four basic areas of Earth science study are: geology, meteorology, oceanography, and astronomy. A brief explanation of these sciences is provided below.

Mapping the inside of a volcano: Dr. Catherine Snelson, Assistant Professor of Geophysics at New Mexico Tech, sets off small explosions on the flank of Mount Erebus (a volcano in Antarctica). Vibrations from the explosions travel into the Earth and reflect off of structures below. Her instruments record the vibrations. She uses the data to prepare maps of the volcano's interior. Photo courtesy of Martin Reed, the National Science Foundation and the United States Antarctic Program . Learn more about what Dr. Snelson and others are doing to learn about Mount Erebus .

Geology: Science of the Earth

Geology is the primary Earth science. The word means "study of the Earth." Geology deals with the composition of Earth materials, Earth structures, and Earth processes. It is also concerned with the organisms of the planet and how the planet has changed over time. Geologists search for fuels and minerals, study natural hazards, and work to protect Earth's environment.

Mapping lava flows: Charlie Bacon, a USGS volcanologist, draws the boundaries of prehistoric lava flows from Mount Veniaminof, Alaska, onto a map. This map will show the areas covered by past lava eruptions and can be used to estimate the potential impact of future eruptions. Scientists in Alaska often carry firearms (foreground) and pepper spray as protection against grizzly bears. The backpack contains food and survival gear, and a two-way radio to call his helicopter pilot. Charlie's orange overalls help the pilot find him on pick-up day. Image by Charlie Bacon, USGS / Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Meteorology: Science of the Atmosphere

Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and how processes in the atmosphere determine Earth's weather and climate. Meteorology is a very practical science because everyone is concerned about the weather. How climate changes over time in response to the actions of people is a topic of urgent worldwide concern. The study of meteorology is of critical importance in protecting Earth's environment.

Hydrologic cycle: An Earth science system

Hydrologic Cycle: Earth Science involves the study of systems such as the hydrologic cycle. This type of system can only be understood by using a knowledge of geology (groundwater), meteorology (weather and climate), oceanography (ocean systems) and astronomy (energy input from the sun). The hydrologic cycle is always in balance - inputs and withdrawals must be equal. Earth scientists would determine the impact of any human input or withdraw from the system. NOAA image created by Peter Corrigan.

Oceanography: Science of the Oceans

Oceanography is the study of Earth's oceans - their composition, movement, organisms and processes. The oceans cover most of our planet and are important resources for food and other commodities. They are increasingly being used as an energy source. The oceans also have a major influence on the weather, and changes in the oceans can drive or moderate climate change. Oceanographers work to develop the ocean as a resource and protect it from human impact. The goal is to utilize the oceans while minimizing the effects of our actions.

Astronomy: Science of the Universe

Astronomy is the study of the universe. Here are some examples of why studying space beyond Earth is important: the moon drives the ocean's tidal system, asteroid impacts have repeatedly devastated Earth's inhabitants, and energy from the sun drives our weather and climates. A knowledge of astronomy is essential to understanding the Earth. Astronomers can also use a knowledge of Earth materials, processes and history to understand other planets - even those outside of our own solar system.

The Importance of Earth Science

Today we live in a time when the Earth and its inhabitants face many challenges. Our climate is changing, and that change is being caused by human activity. Earth scientists recognized this problem and will play a key role in efforts to resolve it. We are also challenged to: develop new sources of energy that will have minimal impact on climate; locate new sources of metals and other mineral resources as known sources are depleted; and, determine how Earth's increasing population can live and avoid serious threats such as volcanic activity, earthquakes, landslides, floods and more. These are just a few of the problems where solutions depend upon a deep understanding of Earth science.

Earth Science Careers

If you are a pre-college student, you can start preparing for a career in Earth science by enrolling in the college preparation program and doing well in all of your courses. Science courses are especially important, but math, writing, and other disciplines are also used by Earth scientists during every working day.

Some universities have Earth Science programs but most offer more specific training in programs such as geology, meteorology, oceanography or astronomy. In these programs you will be required to take some challenging courses such as chemistry, physics, biology and math. Earth science is an integrated science, and professionals in that field must solve problems that require a knowledge of several fields of science.

If you already have a degree in another discipline such as biology, chemistry, geography, or physics, you might be able to go to graduate school and obtain a Master's degree in one of the Earth sciences. That will most likely require taking some undergraduate courses to meet program entry requirements. However, if you have a strong interest in Earth science it is probably worth doing.

At present, job opportunities in many areas of the Earth sciences are better than average. Opportunities in geology are especially good.

Visit the website of a school that offers a geology degree, get in touch with the geology department, let them know you are interested, and make arrangements to visit the campus. Don't be hesitant. Good schools and professors want to be contacted by interested students.

Find Other Topics on Geology.com:

Climate Change Essay for Students and Children

500+ words climate change essay.

Climate change refers to the change in the environmental conditions of the earth. This happens due to many internal and external factors. The climatic change has become a global concern over the last few decades. Besides, these climatic changes affect life on the earth in various ways. These climatic changes are having various impacts on the ecosystem and ecology. Due to these changes, a number of species of plants and animals have gone extinct.

When Did it Start?

The climate started changing a long time ago due to human activities but we came to know about it in the last century. During the last century, we started noticing the climatic change and its effect on human life. We started researching on climate change and came to know that the earth temperature is rising due to a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect. The warming up of earth surface causes many ozone depletion, affect our agriculture , water supply, transportation, and several other problems.

Reason Of Climate Change

Although there are hundreds of reason for the climatic change we are only going to discuss the natural and manmade (human) reasons.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Natural Reasons

These include volcanic eruption , solar radiation, tectonic plate movement, orbital variations. Due to these activities, the geographical condition of an area become quite harmful for life to survive. Also, these activities raise the temperature of the earth to a great extent causing an imbalance in nature.

Human Reasons

Man due to his need and greed has done many activities that not only harm the environment but himself too. Many plant and animal species go extinct due to human activity. Human activities that harm the climate include deforestation, using fossil fuel , industrial waste , a different type of pollution and many more. All these things damage the climate and ecosystem very badly. And many species of animals and birds got extinct or on a verge of extinction due to hunting.

Effects Of Climatic Change

These climatic changes have a negative impact on the environment. The ocean level is rising, glaciers are melting, CO2 in the air is increasing, forest and wildlife are declining, and water life is also getting disturbed due to climatic changes. Apart from that, it is calculated that if this change keeps on going then many species of plants and animals will get extinct. And there will be a heavy loss to the environment.

What will be Future?

If we do not do anything and things continue to go on like right now then a day in future will come when humans will become extinct from the surface of the earth. But instead of neglecting these problems we start acting on then we can save the earth and our future.

Although humans mistake has caused great damage to the climate and ecosystem. But, it is not late to start again and try to undo what we have done until now to damage the environment. And if every human start contributing to the environment then we can be sure of our existence in the future.

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Humanity’s Attachment to Mother Earth

Caring for the Earth and for our environment seems to have been a notion dear to humankind since the dawn of time. Even to this day, many of those societies that are deemed “primitive” for having retained elements of a lifestyle that most human societies abandoned millennia ago exhibit, to some degree, a sense of protection of the Planet.

Nowadays, global climate change and environment and wildlife protection have never been more talked about, with the prospect of humankind irremediably damaging our Home. At the same time, this destruction of our environment is taking its toll on us: some natural resources such as oil, soil and fisheries are being used up, and subsequently conflicts and entrenched hunger are being exacerbated by this scarcity.

Our profligate use of the Planet is backfiring on us psychologically, as if we had a latent need to empathize with Earth’s condition, as if it were a person. Others even dare speak of a “Nature Deficit Disorder” in children.

As a clinical psychologist, I attempt to build theories about human emotions based on contact with individuals. I have been wondering about the implications of seeing the Planet as having a direct, spiritual and psychological relationship with every single one of us. Using the framework of psychoanalysis, symbolisms, and a touch of ecological philosophy, as well as research on ecology, I shall try to offer a perspective on the use of culture in our fight to protect our Earth.

Mother Earth

Symbols and depictions of Earth as a nurturer have been long present in human societies. For example, the Yggdrasil tree from Germanic mythology connects different parts of the world, and is revered by the gods themselves as a source of holiness and a symbol of life and power. In that same mythology, it is from two trees that mankind has been created, from the raw fabric of nature. The Christian Bible holds the creation of our species in the clay, an element born from the soil itself.

The Yggdrasil tree, from Germanic mythology, connects different parts of the world and is revered by the gods themselves as a source of holiness and a symbol of life and power.

Also, it is not uncommon to see the Earth being prayed to, and being invoked, as being the “Mother of Life”, and the mother of all living things in its dominion. Various peoples long to return to her, to her embrace, and bury their bodies in her, tying their souls with her mercy. Indeed, with such a focus on giving life and providing for us, no wonder that across many cultures, fertility deities are goddesses sharing a deep affinity with the Earth. They are portrayed as mothers, answering the prayers of their offspring.

Philosopher Mircea Eliade proposed a reflection about the “Mother Earth”. He compared Earth to the mother, on a symbolic level. Just like the mother, it is the first object of attachment that we encounter in the objective world. Earth holds us like a mother, it nurtures us like a mother does, providing food, chemicals, wood, and answering our every need in a seemingly omnipotent way, akin to the vision an infant has of its all-powerful mother until it has grown enough to fend for itself.

Moreover, clinical experience has demonstrated instances when patients separated from their homeland (immigrant workers, refugees, nomads) exhibit symptoms of depression and anxiety, echoing the situation of a child deprived of its mother’s care. The similarity comes from the feeling of abandonment from the loss of a familiar, known, secure, gratifying object.

Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein theorized, from her observation of babies, that an infant at some stage fears that it has “damaged” its mother by clinging to her and feeding off her, and this causes the child to enter a phase of depression subsequent to so much guilt. This guilt actually allows us to mature enough and form a psyche that can both withstand frustration and develop an ability to feel remorse.

Are we moved enough by the plight of the planet to question ourselves, deal with depression and make amends at the same time?

This would mean that guilt and the ensuing need to “repair” are experienced at the very early moments of our life. While these theories are quite controversial, the central message is that humankind is capable of developing a stable psyche because of our very deep capacity to feel bad about our actions, and to delve into a more ”gentle” identity and accept to make amends by learning, by “being good”, and then by repairing the damage we have caused. As children, we thrive on a “good enough mother” , rather than an all-powerful mother, and the guilt from damaging the mother, by claiming too much from her — in another form of all-powerfulness — is one step towards socialization and the integration of norms and values.

In practice, it is often very apparent in adults how many of their everyday actions have a source in their early interactions with their mothers. In regards to Earth, this is something that is quite apparent too: we do feel deeply moved by the consequences of our use of Earth and our all-powerfulness towards her.

One main question remains though: are we moved enough by the plight of the planet to question ourselves, deal with depression and make amends at the same time? If we are not, we should think of ways to allow ourselves to be moved by those feelings so familiar and yet so terrifying because they force us to confront the possibility that we are in fact powerless and our ultimate fear of becoming victims of something we cannot control at all — the revenge of she who created and fed, and on whom we depend for everything.

Culture as a mediator

Since the times of the ancient Egyptians, and even before, culture and its practice were a means to give hope to humankind by reassuring us about death, the separation from life and its benevolent sources, through rituals and rites. Various civilizations have harvest rites in order to honor the Earth: they have not only ecological and economic benefits, but also psychological ones. By recreating with symbols and reenactments our fantasies of immortality and reunion with the First Object, the Territory of Ultimate Gratifications, we create a psychic phenomenon that comforts us.

Moreover, cultural norms — delivered through the rites of passage and rituals — allow human beings to put a distance between them and topics too painful to deal with at an individual level, such as death and separation. By providing rules through which to respond to these situations, culture both protects and heals; it has the ability to connect with our deepest emotions.

From the Amazonian Yanomani, to the arctic Inuits, to the Namibian San, and even for people in urban areas, deep down we all harbour feelings of belonging to “a land”, and belonging to “the land”. Indeed, attachment to a place, to a scenery, to a soil that has nurtured us for generations, is one of the contributors to our sense of safety and our psychological stability. This need for a locus to lean on is vital to human existence.

Eco-activist and Noble Prize recipient Wangari Maathai was among the most audible voices arguing for a reconsideration of nature as an object deserving dignity and respect, and retribution. Personifying Earth, Maathai seems to be calling for a broader perspective on ecological issues, going beyond the traditional economic worries, and underlining the fight for our humanity and what exactly makes us human, through the fight for our Planet.

From the Amazonian Yanomani, to the arctic Inuits, to the Namibian San, and even for people in urban areas, deep down we all harbour feelings of belonging to “a land”, and belonging to “the land”.

The Chipko movement , led by Indian women, is an interesting example of very concrete activism, drawing on a humanization of nature and ideas of female empowerment. The Chipko movement emerged during the 70s as a form of non-violent ecological activism. Its members gathered to literally hug trees in order to prevent them being cut for industrial use. One of the movement’s supporters is renowned Indian philosopher and eco-feminist Dr. Vandana Shiva . Dr. Shiva linked the concerns of women to those of nature, stating that both were victims of a male-dominated, patriarchal society. In that vision, nature is brought back to its feminine aspect, and through identification with “her”, an emotional movement comes to life, to defend quite worldly causes.

To this day, some cultures of the world have retained a socially enforced protection of nature. That is to say that in their core cultural practices, they showcase ecological “militantism”. The traditional bamanan society of Mali — among others — have a Totemic cult for every family. Based on one’s last name, people would be required to care for and protect a particular animal species. That allowed for a “quota” of killing in every animal population and actually regulated the biodiversity at the same time. Tales tell of instances when someone would transgress the totem and become “mad” as a curse. This might have been an expression of guilt over the breaking of sacred covenants. This example illustrates a will to interlink the fate of humans with nature, to such an extent that a person would socially or mentally alienate themselves when severing ties with nature.

Lights, camera, inaction

So, how could we use those timeless values with our current cultural productions to cater to our Mother Earth? One obvious medium, as a recent article on the rise of environmental documentaries has suggested, is through film.

French journalist Eric Neuhoff stated in a controversial review of French eco-activist Nicolas Hulot’s documentary Le Syndrome du Titanic that, after watching the movie, he simply wanted to pollute more. The main argument of Neuhoff’s review was that the movie was so disheartening in its depiction of the current global ecological situation that it actually sent out the message that it was too late and that the planet was doomed to die. In that documentary, Hulot chose to show vivid images of major ecological crises and their impact on food (for instance, droughts in Africa), and animals (carcasses in the wild), all the while only scarcely commenting, letting viewers emotionally engage with the matters at hand. Many critics praising the initiative also complained about the overall execution of the movie.

That contrasts with the film Home by Yann Arthus Bertrand , available free online, and its gorgeous images of our home, the Earth. Home garnered massive acclaim from both critics and viewers, as a message of “Love to Earth”, and optimistic affirmation of the need to protect it.

One major risk that all documentaries face is that they join the chorus of constant activism which may become tiresome for audiences after a while. One question we may raise is whether such frontal endeavours are not hindering the appeal to masses in this matter of environmental activism. Home’s message, however great the execution may have been and however legitimate the overall intention was, was deemed quite simplistic at times by critics, in that it mirrored the many, constant political speeches about the need to protect our home.

In integrating culture into the fight for the Earth through movies and other forms of cultural expression such as video games or music, we might have an opportunity to tap into deeper levels of attachment to our planet by speaking directly to our emotions. At present, activism is speaking mainly to rational thoughts about environmental decline and our associated guilt and fear.

Sure, betting on fear might be considered a useful tactic, but it bets on our anxiety towards the unknown. We could bet instead on the gratifying feelings of security and nurturing that lead us to love the Earth, and find our way in vows of love, protection of the Great Mother who we have damaged so much.

Ultimately, however, by appealing to emotions in addition to hard facts, through the magic of our cultural institutions, we can assist communities to find the strength necessary, to be empowered, ecologically savvy individuals, part of a global movement to save our collective mother, Earth. This should include communication through art forms such as cartoons, or video games, that have been categorized as “lowly” for some time. My own experiences as a clinical psychologist involved in “video game therapy” have opened my eyes on the many wonderful uses some superficially simple game may have when used properly.

So, should we be hugging trees to feel better on a psychological level? Maybe in a near future, we will each be put in charge of our own totem that we will have to protect and honour in our everyday life. At the very least, we know that educating individuals from an early age to be aware of nature, by drawing upon our emotional connection to nature and our cultural platforms, has proven useful in human societies before.

Oumar Konare

Oumar Konare is from Mali and is a former intern in the United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP). After earning the title of clinical psychologist in France, he is now researching “The function of religion in the Muslim population of Mali” for his Ph.D. thesis. Konare’s interests include religious studies, culture and cultural practices as therapy, psychology in social and political contexts, and ethnic and group identity questions in the modern world.

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The Last Thing My Mother Wanted

Healthy at age 74, she decided there was nothing on earth still keeping her here, not even us..

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Do you know how many grams of Nembutal it takes to put an elephant to sleep?” asks the anesthesiologist from Pegasos, a voluntary-assisted-death organization in Switzerland, after an evaluative look at my mother.

We — my 74-year-old mother, my younger sister, and I — are sitting on a couch in the suite of a charming hotel near the center of Basel. Thin, contained, elegant, with a neat bob of white hair, Mom is at attention. The doctor seems at ease. As he tucks his hat under a red-and-gold Louis XV–style chair, he tells us that many people who avail themselves of Pegasos’s service, which costs more than $10,000, will sell their car or antique books to spend their last few nights at this hotel.

It is September 28, 2022, the day before my mother is scheduled to inject herself with 15 grams of Nembutal — enough to sedate three and a half elephants, the doctor says. She would not need to worry about waking up or being cremated alive. This was a relief to her, Mom says with a smile.

In June, my sister and I had learned, almost by accident, that she was seeking an assisted suicide. I was on the phone with Mom, listening to her complain about an annoying bureaucrat at the New York County Clerk’s Office, when she mentioned it. “I am putting in an application to Pegasos,” she said impassively, “so I was getting some documents for them.” I texted my sister while we were on the phone: “What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me about Mom applying to die?” Three little dots. “Wait,” My sister wrote back. “What. What is she doing?”

Mom didn’t have cancer or Lou Gehrig’s disease or any of the illnesses that typically qualify you for assisted death. A cataract in her left eye had deteriorated, and though she had some foot pain and had gotten a pacemaker, all of which weighed on her, she was quite healthy for her age. She had completed a marathon just a few years before at 68.

But her long-term partner had been diagnosed with an incurable glioblastoma in February 2020 and had taken advantage of California’s “death with dignity” laws to die that May. Soon after, Mom left San Francisco, a city she hated for the 20 years she lived there, and moved back to her beloved New York. She bought an apartment near her childhood home on Fifth Avenue; reconnected with old friends; saw plays, art exhibits, and movies; ate good food; and traveled — and did not care about any of it. “Oh, I have nothing interesting to say,” she would say when I called, her voice animated only when she was describing a plan to smite anyone responsible for a grievance by writing a furious email or leaving an angry Yelp review. My mother had always been a flashlight of a person — shining a small but intense beam on things she wanted to explore — but now the radius had shrunk, the light weakened. She used to be curious about my husband’s hobbies, our children, my sister’s career, but those topics, like everything else, were now of only vague interest. She would come down to Virginia to see my family and go up to Connecticut to see my sister’s, but she wouldn’t play with the kids and didn’t seem to enjoy the trips, just expressed relief when they were over. In the last months of her life, the only thing that appeared to give her real joy was the hope that she would be ending it.

In the U.S., ten states allow physician-assisted death, which is available only to residents who are terminally ill with no more than six months to live. In Canada, the laws are more expansive, but citizens still need a diagnosis — if not a terminal condition, then an incurable one with intolerable suffering and an advanced state of decline. In Switzerland, where a foreigner can go to receive aid in dying, there are fewer restrictions on who is eligible. Pegasos is one of the only organizations that will help elderly people who have not been diagnosed with a terminal illness but who are tired of life. Its website notes that “old age is rarely kind” and that “for a person to be in the headspace of considering ending their lives, their quality of life must be qualitatively poor.”

My mother had pinned her hopes on this “tired of life” catchall. She had a three-pronged rationale, she told us over the phone: The world was going to hell, and she did not want to see more; she did not get joy out of the everyday pleasures of life or her relationships; and she did not want to face the degradations of aging.

My sister and I immediately believed she would go through with it. A lifelong libertarian, my mother believed firmly in maintaining her independence. Since she was 21, she had a living will with significant restrictions on when she wanted to be resuscitated. Mom had been brought up with a strict sense of what was appropriate, which was essentially a list of rules on how to avoid imposing on others (thank-you notes had to be sent within a week; navy is the safest color). As she aged, she was desperately afraid of deteriorating and becoming a burden — on taxpayers funding Medicaid, on the medical system, on us.

Our husbands, and our friends who had spent time with her, weren’t so sure about her resolve. Mom had a history of starting projects and then abandoning them. Over the years, her Farsi and Japanese had stayed at a beginner level, her massage-therapy degree went essentially unused, the beginning of her dissertation for an anthropology Ph.D. on upper-class lesbians sat in a stack of neatly filed index cards. And she often made threats she didn’t keep. Once, furious in the middle of an argument, she went to her filing cabinet, got out her will, and crossed out my name in the relevant sections, then initialed and dated every change. The next time she sent us a copy of her will, I was, without comment, back in it.

This uncertainty cast a strange shadow on the long, humid days of that Virginia summer. I wrote down memories, questions in case it was my last chance to ask them. Mostly, I hoped a deadline might compel her to give me the thing I’d been seeking for years: some accounting of who she was as a parent, some sign that she had thought about all the nicks and bangs she had given my sister and me.

In mid-June, my mother begins to gather the required documents: the birth and marriage certificates, the name changes, the medical records. None of her medical records have any documentation of any mental illness, which would prompt a closer review from Pegasos; Mom had refused therapy her entire life, believing it to be for the weak. But it had long been clear to the few people she had kept in her life and the many who had been excised or distanced themselves that something was not right.

When I was in preschool and my parents were still married and living together on the Upper East Side, my mother started an affair with the mother of one of my friends. I found out in kindergarten when my friend and I walked in on them in the bath. Once that secret was out, no secrets would be kept. My mother told me that my friend’s parents liked to have another mutual friend watch them have sex. This was unfathomable to me. I had only ever seen this voyeur — a kind, chubby woman — in slightly scuffed Ferragamos with a silk scarf draped dowdily around her neck. Now I imagined her in a bedroom I knew well, watching my friend’s parents do whatever noisy, naked thing made my parents lock the door at night sometimes.

When I was about 8, my mother started up with a professor of anthropology at Columbia, where she had begun the Ph.D. she wouldn’t finish. He smoked cigars and was fat. Mom was entranced. By his intellect, she said. One Sunday in late fall, my mother, my sister, and I were on our way back to the city from East Hampton when Mom decided to stop to get a poinsettia for the professor. When my father asked why we were late, my sister told him, innocently, that we stopped to buy a plant for “Mommy’s lover.” My father was not an arguer, but his face rearranged itself into fury and humiliation while my mother screeched at my sister, “How could you tell your father that?!” I grabbed my sister, and we hid under the mahogany dining table. My sister was shivering. I sat beside her, silent, a little resentful we were witnessing something that maybe should have stayed between grown-ups.

Some years later, after my parents had started and stopped divorce proceedings, my mother and I took a trip to India to hike for six weeks in Ladakh. It was, she said, a way for us to get to know each other in an environment where, unlike New York or Paris, she wasn’t the expert. To mark my turning 16 and the evolution of our relationship. When we crossed the threshold of the guesthouse in Delhi where the dozen or so travelers would be meeting, she saw a woman with bright-blue eyes and a subtle mullet, grabbed my hand, and said, “Fuck. I didn’t need to fall in love right now.” The trip became about that love — every night my mother would tell me every detail about her conversations with the woman and the growing lust she felt for her.

One night, there was an almost biblical storm and we heard someone outside our tent asking to come in. It was the blue-eyed woman, who would become my mother’s partner of 25 years. Her tent had blown away. We welcomed her into our two-person tent and within an hour, I was huddled on one side, trying desperately not to touch the wet polyester sidewall, singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” silently with my fingers in my ears so I could muffle the wet sounds of their lovemaking. I knew I wouldn’t get an apology the next morning, but I didn’t expect pure triumph. My mother had now won this woman from her partner, the trip operator, and she was entirely focused on her.

Later, in high school, I was on the phone with a friend while heating something up in the kitchen. I was an absent-minded kid, and my mother had warned me before about the danger of not monitoring the stove. When I saw the flames, I ran to get my father, who was reading in his room. Twenty-three years before, he had lost his first wife and son in a freak house fire. He was 70 years old when our kitchen went ablaze, but I have never seen a human move that quickly. I was paralyzed. Not because of the fire but because I knew how angry my mother would be. When she came home, she didn’t ask my father how he was feeling. She told me to go to my room. I didn’t sleep. I was terrified and wrote a poem about how much I loved her. In the morning, I gave her the poem and she gave me my punishment. I would not be going on spring break with her and my sister, I needed to get a job to help pay for the damage, and I wasn’t allowed to say “I love you” to her for three months. I pushed back, telling her I did love her and had just made a mistake, but hit a wall of silence.

It was decades later, when I was in a healthy marriage with three children of my own, that I started to see how wrong it all was. Back then, I couldn’t let myself feel angry at my mother; it was too dangerous. Any hint of disapproval could be the moment she cut you off, and once out, there was no way back in. When she was 71, without warning, she stopped talking to her only sibling, apparently because an email her sister had sent related to the family business was the final straw in a lifetime of annoyance. The abandonment was total. Despite my aunt’s efforts, my mother never spoke to her again.

I struggle briefly with whether to email Pegasos and tell them the part of the story I knew, but I decide not to. Maybe, I think, it would be best for my mother to end her life. I love her, and in addition to the reasons she articulated, she seems terribly lonely. I don’t want to take from her the choice of a civilized, painless death. And I fear what would happen if she found out I had thrown roadblocks in her way. Even now, she has an enormous amount of power over me. When I was a teenager, my mother, after a fight with my father, forbade me from speaking to my youngest half-sister again. It took me until I was 40 to work up the courage to contact her, and even then, I did so in secret.

In July, Mom sends Pegasos the documents and gets conditional approval. She wires the money for the fee, and it takes far too much time, and many visits to her bank, to clear. “I can’t believe I have to go through this crap to not go through this crap anymore,” she texts.

The days in August are long. Pegasos has said it will get back to her with potential dates, and time drips by as my sister, my mother, and I wait. Her anxiety seems to increase with every day. Always goal-oriented, she is now determined to die. That month, I am visiting my mother-in-law when my mother calls. “I just want to hear back from them,” she says, her stress palpable. “They said it would be two weeks. If they don’t accept me, I am going to kill myself. I’ve been thinking about it.” She has been. She has stockpiled Valium and Ambien, bought over the internet, and has a few Zofrans left over from trips. She is going to rent a hotel room, take the anti-nausea medication and the Ambien, get into a bath, take a few Valium, and slit her arteries with a knife. She wants to do it in a hotel room because she doesn’t want her apartment to be difficult to sell, though, she says, she would prefer to die at home. The image of her tiny body, the curve of her lower stomach and the age spots on her chest, lying in a pool of pinkish water flashes into my brain. I try to shake it. She wouldn’t do that. I can’t imagine she would.

If I’m being honest, I am glad she has a backup plan, even if I hate the specifics. Though the idea of cutting ties with her has crossed my mind, I’ve refrained, more out of a sense of duty to her and my sister than from any joy I get from our relationship. The decades have refused to soften her, and on visits, I’d watch as she snapped at the children and then wondered why they retreated to their rooms to read. In the weeks leading up to those trips, I’d repeat the same thing I used to tell myself on flights with a toddler: You can get through anything in six-minute increments. It would be a struggle, I know, to care for her as she aged. But the anticipation of relief is accompanied by the guilt of knowing that my mother, on a microchimeric level, can sense my ambivalence and is feeling out how strongly my sister and I will fight to persuade her to stay on this earth. After she told us about her application to Pegasos, I called her. “What would make you happy this summer, Mom?” I asked. I suggested a girls’ weekend with her, my sister, and me; she declined. Later, she tells my sister that part of the reason she has decided to kill herself is that my sister does not love her enough. In August, she sends me a final birthday card. On the front, it reads MAY ALL YOUR VENGEFUL WISHES COME TRUE. She has written on the inside, “Dear Pussycat, I think this is the best birthday wish ever. xxoo. Mommy.”

I can see it clearly — the special brand of narcissistic sadism she has perfected. Still, in my bountiful moments, I think perhaps she is consciously attempting a last act of parenting: doing me the favor of severing the connection that has defined much of my life and that I am too scared to break.

On September 2, Pegasos offers my mother a slot on September 29. Time declares war on my sanity. Paucity and abundance. There are too many hours and definitely not enough. I get through every day: cooking, volunteering at school, taking one child to the orthodontist, then the next to a guitar lesson. The rhythms of life become unnatural. In my head is a clock: “Mom may be dead in two weeks and three days. Two weeks and two days.”

I stop sleeping almost entirely. I am pretty certain I am not going to miss her, but she is my mother. Two weeks. I can’t decide if I am more frightened of watching her die or of the week we will spend with her beforehand. What if my last memories are of her being cruel, even inadvertently?

Thirteen days. I’ve been calling her more frequently, panning for any evidence that we could speak truthfully. She tells me every time that she has nothing interesting to say. Once, my call goes to voice-mail and she texts an explanation; she’s getting her legs waxed. Twelve days. She’s having good-bye dinners and lunches. Some participants know, but some don’t.

I call her the Monday before we leave for Switzerland. I note that in two weeks I won’t be able to hear her voice and I am just calling to say “hi.” This seems to be an emotional curiosity for her; I can almost hear her rolling it around in her head. Finally, she advises me, chipper, that I should record her voice. I tell her I love her as we say good-bye and realize that she stopped saying “I love you” sometime in July.

In the meantime, I’ve continued to write down moments I think she would enjoy reliving — mostly from when my sister and I were young, when she was still tender and affectionate with us. Games of tickle monster on the stairs of our apartment, the half-hour every day she would read to us while we lay sprawled on the floor coloring or building houses of cards. Our summers spent as a trio on Long Island — jumping waves, catching crabs in the bay, eating dinner in the backyard before falling asleep in her bed, nut brown and worn out from the sun. On one of my first plane rides, she told me about the 1973 Rome-airport terrorist attacks ten years earlier. “Pussycat,” she said somberly, “if I fall on top of you and you hear gunshots, don’t move, even if I am not answering you.”

The school year begins. As I sit by the pool in the evenings watching my children swim, I debate forcing a conversation about who she was as a mother. Then old reflexes kick in: What if she gets angry and bans me from coming to Switzerland? I couldn’t make my little sister be the sole witness to her death. I start to fantasize that, at the least, we’ll talk in Basel. That she’ll tell us that she remembers how my breath always smelled like apple juice as a child and what joy that gave her, that she loved the weight of our bodies when we sat on her lap, that she is proud of raising women like us and enjoys the squeals of our children and the solicitousness of our husbands mixing her cocktails when she visits. After my sister and I approve of the hotel she wants to stay in in Basel, she writes us an email, telling us “I really appreciate the two of you :-). I am lucky that you are my daughters.” Though I should probably know better, I imagine finding a long note from her in the hotel telling us how much she cares, how even though the decision was the right one for her, it was hard to make.

Monday ends. Then Tuesday. Vicious eczema erupts on my chin. I lie in bed awake every night from midnight until 5 a.m. My husband still isn’t convinced she’ll go through with it. My sister and I contemplate how things will shift if she changes her mind at the last minute. We decide that, for this year, we’d just skip the holidays as a family.

There’s a strike at the Paris airport, and my mother is worried that her flight to Switzerland, which stops at Charles de Gaulle, will be affected. As backup, I buy refundable tickets directly to Zurich from New York. She’s effusively grateful. She tells a friend this purchase is the thing she has most loved about me. On Tuesday, when I call a week before she is scheduled to die, she tells me she is going to clean her apartment and wash her sheets in case my sister and I want to stay there (we don’t) and then pack. In the middle of our conversation, she says, “I just wish it was next week.” Then she remembers that she needs to buy razors in case there is a last-minute hitch with Pegasos. She tells me she plans to send my sister and me away and then kill herself in the hotel bathroom. Even in context, this seems histrionic: She shouldn’t put my sister and me in the position of flying to Switzerland to watch her kill herself and then ask us to leave and walk around Basel knowing she is taking her life in a painful way — and then I feel ungenerous for noting that.

I feel ungenerous often. In her recounting, my mother had a gilded but emotionally difficult early life. An apartment across from the Met in a building her family owned, skiing in Megève, summers in East Hampton. And then parents who left her and her sister in the care of a Swedish nanny to go on a round-the-world cruise when she was only 2 and a half, returning to find their offspring now spoke only Swedish, which neither of them did. A father who cheated on her mother, who returned the favor. A mother who literally thought she was Marie Antoinette reincarnated and then was hospitalized when my mother was 10.

My mother will tell us in Switzerland that, in the hospital, my grandmother was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Later, one of my half-sisters will mention that when I was a toddler, my mother told her, outraged, that her doctor had suggested my mother, too, had BPD. I had been trying to understand her for years, and the diagnosis finally makes the puzzle pieces fit: The illness is characterized by dichotomous thinking, impulsive actions without regard for the feelings of others, and trouble maintaining stable relationships. Still, there is no way to corroborate it.

Less than one week left. For the first time in my life, real rage. It bubbles up as dreams in which I shake her violently and only sawdust comes out. How can she value my sister and me — and our beautiful, kind, sparkly children — so little as to choose to leave us? And is she really going to go without any kind of reckoning with the person and parent she was, with the damage she has done? It feels horribly cyclical. When my grandmother died, my mother went through her apartment, searching for clues as to her personality, or perhaps some proof that her mother had loved and cherished her, and found a series of locked diaries dating back years. Hours later, she found the keys and was full of anticipation. All the diaries were blank.

My mother-in-law arrives on Friday, two days before I am scheduled to leave for Switzerland, to help my husband take care of our three children. She has been caring and unobtrusive throughout the summer, and seeing how easily she and my husband co-parent, and their affection for each other, is too painful. I avoid them and my kids all weekend. Saturday, my sister goes to New York to accompany my mother to the airport. She has to pee when she arrives, but my mother will not let her into her apartment as she has already cleaned it. She’s anxious about getting to the airport in time, though they end up arriving three and a half hours early.

We haven’t told the kids what is happening, and neither have my sister and her husband. We have a tentative plan to tell them when they are older. My mother would like us to. She feels her choice is ethical and brave — and, I think, wants us to honor that in our recounting.

I am not sure that I live the three days in Switzerland so much as watch them pass through leaded windows. Nothing seems solid. My mother certainly doesn’t. We walk around Basel, a charming city with a river flowing through it, on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday are gray and rainy. We have lunch. We take the train to France. We talk about the music she listened to with her cousin when she was young and pull up a video of “Running Bear” on YouTube. I try to take advantage of the fact that she has her faculties to talk about our life, but I quickly realize there is no point. When I ask why she thinks our relationship has always been tenser than hers with my sister, she tells me, “You just became so nasty and difficult at 8.” She hands us no letters.

The night before she is scheduled to kill herself, we have a sumptuous dinner at the Brasserie au Violon, the site of a former prison; my mother chose the venue as a joke.

The procedure, or the appointment — none of us seem to want to say the word death — has been moved from Thursday morning to the early afternoon. Another lifetime of waiting. By 9 a.m., the clouds have broken, and my mother is already dressed, her hair in curlers. She is sitting on the bed, looking at her computer. My sister and I suggest a walk. My mother declines: “I’m doing emails. Just unsubscribing from Politico.” “Mom!” We splutter. “We can do that! It’s your last day on earth!” Which it is, and so we desist. Around noon, we go down to the hotel bar. My mother orders a whiskey-soda, ice cream, and a glass of Barolo. She enjoys the wine so much that I suggest she could just not go through with it and stay in this exact hotel and drink herself into oblivion for the rest of her life. Like Bartleby, she’d prefer not to.

At one, her internal alarm goes off. We get the check, the hotel gets a cab, and the three of us, together for the last time, get in. The 20-minute ride to an industrial suburb of the city passes in silence; we are all holding hands.

The head of the organization, dressed in an off-white linen top and flowing pants, greets us kindly as the car arrives and leads us into the Pegasos bay in the industrial park. Next to it is a place that appears to repair tire rims and then one that mixes paint. In the waiting room, to the left, large-scale photos of a beach frame a desk; on the right there is a seating area. All the colors are neutral, and there is an abundance of bottled waters and chocolates.

The train is in motion. We hand over our passports; the Swiss police, I think we are told, will need them so they can confirm our identities once we identify the body. My mother is nervous, the way she has been my whole life while traveling. The anesthesiologist is there, typing briskly. The head of the organization tells us there is no rush, but we can start if we are ready. My sister and I look at each other. We’ll never be ready, but when my mother says she is set, we follow her back to the second room. It’s the last time we will be her goslings. The air seems to have turned into corn syrup, and I waddle behind her, weighed down by hundreds of tiny memories, grievances, and love notes. This is it. This is it. My mother climbs into a queen-size hospital bed. The director comes in and my mother reminds him that she has a pacemaker and they should take it out before they cremate her so the crematorium will not explode. He laughs gently and says they will be sure to. “Don’t worry. We know. We already had that happen once.” I can’t tell if he is kidding.

Mom has opted to have an IV and not take the oral medication, as apparently the latter tastes terrible and has a tendency to make people vomit. The anesthesiologist begins a saline drip and asks Mom to experiment with the proprietary switch that will initiate the IV, and she has no problem; the doctor reminds us that we cannot get our fingerprints on the switch or there could be trouble with the Swiss authorities. My mother seems tiny in the big bed. We get the CD she wants us to play as she is dying — a recording of “Ave Maria.” We hand her the photo of her partner that has been on her bedside table for years, and she tucks it under her shirt, next to her heart. She puts some stuffed animals that they cherished as totems around her stomach.

The anesthesiologist puts the Nembutal into the drip and leaves the room. My sister and I climb into the bed, one on either side of her. Mom has the switch in her hand, and as “Ave Maria” starts to swell, my sister and I whisper softly, “I love you. I love you. Go in peace. I love you.” Mom pushes the switch and her breathing starts to slow. Her eyes lose focus, and in less than a minute and a half she is gone. My sister and I sit there for a few moments, petting her head, until it feels somehow untoward to continue. And then one of her eyes jumps. I get the anesthesiologist since Mom was terrified of being cremated alive, and he confirms it is normal for some muscles to twitch after the moment of death. The director tells us we have a little while before the police arrive, and my sister and I take a walk past the industrial noises and into a quiet park with a stream running through it. My sister cries; I want a cigarette. We walk back to Pegasos just as the Swiss police show up. They are quiet and efficient and don’t make eye contact.

When they have finished, my sister and I call an Uber and go back into Basel. In the hotel, we sit together in one of the tasteful, heavy studies to call my aunt to tell her. My aunt, shocked, has trouble breathing but manages to ask, “How could she leave you?” Facing my second motherless Mother’s Day, I still don’t know.

Evelyn Jouvenet is a pseudonym.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 for free, anonymous support and resources.

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What Is… Earth’s Atmosphere?

Milan Loiacono

Science communication specialist, when we talk about the earth's atmosphere, what do we mean, 1. troposphere, 2. stratosphere, 3. mesosphere, 4. thermosphere, 5. exosphere, current topics of interest, greenhouse gases, pollution/air quality, current atmospheric research and resources.

The sun's last rays illuminate Earth's atmosphere in this photograph of an orbital sunset from the International Space Station as it soared 261 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the northern coast of Japan.

Imagine a layer cake, wrapping around the Earth. That is essentially what the Earth’s atmosphere is like: layers upon layers of gas surrounding the Earth, working to protect the planet. We asked Rei Ueyama , an atmospheric scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, to explain a little bit more about the function and importance of our atmosphere. Ueyama is part of the Atmospheric Science Branch , which focuses on advancing our knowledge and understanding of atmospheric behaviors around the planet. Ueyama’s research focuses specifically on processes in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, which also enables her to support NASA’s airborne missions with forecasting and flight planning support, data collection, and analyses.

“The Earth’s atmosphere allows life to exist. . . like a protective bubble that surrounds the planet,” stated Ueyama. Although we cannot directly see the atmosphere, it provides the air we breathe and protects us from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. The atmosphere also works to trap heat and maintain moderate, habitable temperature ranges. Without it, the Earth’s temperature would be similar to that of the moon, which experiences extreme temperature fluctuations between day and night ( -208°F to 250°F ) due to the lack of an atmosphere.

There are five main layers that make up the atmosphere, differentiated by factors such as temperature, chemical composition, and air density.

An illustration of the five different layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

The troposphere is the lowermost atmospheric layer. The troposphere holds all the air plants need for photosynthesis and animals need to breathe. Earth’s weather occurs in this layer, as it is where much of the atmospheric mass, including most of the water vapor, is found. The troposphere is also the densest atmospheric layer due to compression from the upper layers.

The troposphere interacts with the Earth’s surface, creating gradients in temperature that drive motion in air and water. The water from the Earth’s surface converts to water vapor via evaporation and transpiration and moves throughout the troposphere, where it condenses into clouds. Winds move the clouds, and the water comes back down as precipitation; rain, snow, sleet, and hail.

Within the troposphere, the temperature decreases with increasing altitude as a result of the air becoming thinner higher up in the layer. This temperature decrease is why we see snow at the peaks of tall mountains.

The stratosphere is the layer above the troposphere. Compared to the troposphere, the lower stratosphere experiences less turbulent air due to reduced convection, the vertical movement of the air in the atmosphere. This region is where commercial passenger aircraft fly. Unlike the troposphere, the temperatures begin to increase as the altitude increases within this layer, largely due to the presence of the ozone layer , which absorbs and protects the Earth from the Sun’s UV radiation. According to Ueyama, this temperature variance creates stability, with cooler, denser air at the bottom and warm, less dense air at the top.

The mesosphere is the middle layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere. Meteors burn up when they enter the mesosphere, due to their speed of travel and the increased presence of gas molecules in the mesosphere compared to the outer atmospheric layers: this creates friction and heat, which incinerate the incoming meteors.

Like the troposphere, temperatures begin to decrease with increasing altitude. The mesosphere is the coldest atmospheric layer, and Ueyama noted that the mesopause , the boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere, is the coldest part of the entire atmosphere. This is because the mesosphere receives less solar radiation (sunlight) than the layers above it, and the air is less dense than the layers below.

The thermosphere resides above the mesosphere. This layer is very active, swelling and shrinking in response to varying levels of solar radiation from the Sun. The thermosphere can reach temperatures up to 2000°C (3632°F) or higher . According to Ueyama, the density of the layer (or rather, the lack thereof) is responsible for its soaring temperatures. With so few gas particles, each one absorbs more radiative energy, which causes the thermosphere to reach such high temperatures. This layer is notable for being home to the International Space Station and other low-Earth-orbit satellites.

Within parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere are stretches of high-energy electrons and ionized atoms, referred to as the ionosphere (don’t let the sphere part of the name fool you: these are groups of particles within the meso- and thermo- spheres). “The Sun’s very high-energy x-rays and UV radiation hits the [gas] molecules, and it knocks off electrons from their parent atoms [leaving] a lot of ions. So that’s why we call it [the] ionosphere,” explained Ueyama. When these particles are excited, they collide to create auroras – also known as the northern and southern lights.

The exosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, where most satellites orbit . The exosphere denotes the end of our atmosphere and the beginning of outer space, though there is not a definitive top altitude where the exosphere ends. “It’s kind of like the air molecules are leaking out of the Earth’s atmosphere,” said Ueyama.

Some of the topics atmospheric scientists are interested in include greenhouse gases, pollution and air quality, and cloud-related processes. Researchers are working on increasing our understanding of how these topics will affect our climate and public health in the future, especially with rapidly changing environmental factors.

Greenhouse gases, a specific category of trace gases, come from natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) activity. Compared to historical records, the concentration of greenhouse gases is increasing in the atmosphere, causing average global temperatures to rise.

Greenhouse gases are not inherently a problem, as they maintain habitable temperatures on Earth. Ueyama explained that without the greenhouse gas effect, the average surface temperature would be around –20˚C (–4˚F). It becomes an issue when anthropogenic activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, increases the concentration of greenhouse gases beyond natural levels, which then traps more heat than normal. This temperature increase is directly associated with climate change.

Pollution raises public health concerns, such as decreased lung function and even premature death for people with heart or lung diseases. Some sources of pollutants are naturally occurring, such as smoke from volcanoes and wildfires, but other sources come from anthropogenic activity. For example, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides, which are also forms of greenhouse gases, are released from factories and cars.

When aerosols , small particles that are suspended in the air and emitted from natural (wildfires, volcanoes) and anthropogenic activity (fossil fuel combustion), populate the atmosphere, the atmospheric composition changes. “This can also change the radiative balance of the Earth and affect the climate,” said Ueyama.

Earth’s energy budget describes the balance between the radiant energy that reaches Earth from the sun and the energy that flows from Earth back out to space.

Radiative balance , also called Earth’s energy budget , refers to the balance between incoming and outgoing amounts of radiation, which atmospheric gases play an important role in managing. The incoming radiation is mostly shortwave solar energy (sunlight), some of which is reflected back out into space by atmospheric gases or clouds, some of which is scattered by atmospheric aerosols, and some of which is absorbed by the planet’s surface. Outgoing radiation is longwave radiation emitted by Earth’s surface, which is almost entirely absorbed by atmospheric gases and then re-emitted in all directions: some gets launched into space and is therefore lost from the system, but some goes back down to Earth to repeat the warming cycle.

A haze covering Eastern China captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. On the day the image was captured, ground-based measurements reported PM 2.5 measurements of 334 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

Ueyama also mentioned the concern of fine inhalable particles such as PM2.5, which are particles 2.5 micrometers and smaller. The smaller the particle, the further it can get into our lungs and cause health problems such as asthma and irregular heartbeats. PM2.5 is directly released from sources like motor vehicle exhaust, or created during complex chemical interactions in the atmosphere. Any of these sources of PM2.5 can have adverse effects on human health.

As different aerosols continue to be emitted, scientists are still working to understand and predict the long-term implications these particles have on the atmosphere’s composition, human health, and environmental conditions. By detecting, monitoring, and modeling these changes, we can understand the behaviors and interactions between atmospheric chemistry and the climate. This informs us of future changes to the climate and guides national and regional air quality standards.

Clouds have a significant influence on weather and climate. Depending on their features and their altitude in the atmosphere, clouds can create either a warming or cooling effect on Earth . Thicker and lower-altitude clouds block solar radiation, cooling the Earth’s surface. Meanwhile, thinner, higher-altitude clouds in the atmosphere trap some solar radiation that is reflected from the Earth’s surface, creating a warming effect. These interactions fit within what is called cloud-climate feedback .

Ueyama’s research covers the dynamic physical processes and interactions between the troposphere and stratosphere to understand what drives variability in clouds and weather patterns. “Understanding the processes that determine these cloud characteristics is [of] interest so that we can improve simulations of clouds and convection in global climate models and therefore better predict future climate,” said Ueyama.

NASA conducts various research on the properties of Earth’s atmosphere, air quality, and Earth’s energy budget. To cover atmospheric-related questions, NASA has four main atmospheric research programs including the Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP), Tropospheric Composition Program (TCP), Radiation Sciences Program (RSP), and Atmospheric Composition Modeling and Analysis Program (ACMAP).

One of NASA’s newly launched satellites, Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) , helps researchers study the exchange of carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere. PACE can detect aerosols and clouds simultaneously, thereby providing valuable insight into the effects of aerosols and their interactions with clouds. Ueyama will provide meteorological and aerosol forecasting for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX) campaign; a field campaign conducting data validation to support the PACE mission.

In addition to NASA’s satellites capturing data from space, there are a multitude of airborne and ground-based missions that both collect and validate data. The Inexpensive Network Sensor Technology for Exploring Pollution (INSTEP) is one of the latest networks of low-cost, high-value air pollution-detecting instruments that can capture and monitor trace gases like methane and carbon dioxide. The Trace Gas GRoup (TGGR) at NASA Ames Research Center deployed INSTEP sensors across California to monitor air quality and support satellite data validation.

For those looking to build their knowledge of the atmospheric sciences, check out NASA’s EarthData for more information and related topics. For news on NASA’s atmospheric-related research, visit NASA’s Earth’s Atmosphere page .

In addition to NASA’s research and resources, Ueyama recommends the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) websites, as public resources offering additional information on atmospheric science topics.

Article Author: Katera Lee

Content POC: Milan Loiacono

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What can early Earth teach us about the search for life?

by Evan Gough, Universe Today

Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the search for life elsewhere. But the modern Earth can't serve as a basis for evaluating exoplanets and their potential to support life. Earth's atmosphere has changed radically over its 4.5 billion years.

A better way is to determine what biomarkers were present in Earth's atmosphere at different stages in its evolution and judge other planets on that basis.

That's what a group of researchers from the UK and the U.S. did. Their research is titled " The early Earth as an analogue for exoplanetary biogeochemistry ," and it appears on the pre-print server arXiv . The lead author is Eva E. Stüeken, a Ph.D. student at the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, UK.

When Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, its atmosphere was nothing like it is today. At that time, the atmosphere and oceans were anoxic. About 2.4 billion years ago, free oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere during the Great Oxygenation Event, one of the defining periods in Earth's history. But the oxygen came from life itself, meaning life was present when the Earth's atmosphere was much different.

This isn't the only example of how Earth's atmosphere has changed over geological time . But it's an instructive one and shows why searching for life means more than just searching for an atmosphere like modern Earth's. If that's the way we conducted the search, we'd miss worlds where photosynthesis hadn't yet appeared.

In their research, the authors point out how Earth hosted a rich and evolving population of microbes under different atmospheric conditions for billions of years.

"For most of this time, Earth has been inhabited by a purely microbial biosphere albeit with seemingly increasing complexity over time," the authors write. "A rich record of this geobiological evolution over most of Earth's history thus provides insights into the remote detectability of microbial life under a variety of planetary conditions."

It's not just life that's changed over time. Plate tectonics have changed and may have been 'stagnant lid' tectonics for a long time. In stagnant lid tectonics, plates don't move horizontally. That can have consequences for atmospheric chemistry.

$Earth’s history is written in chemical reactions. This figure from the research shows the percentage of sulfur isotope fractionation in sediments. The sulfur signature disappeared after the GOE because the oxygen in the atmosphere formed an ozone shield. That blocked UV radiation, which stopped sulfur dioxide photolysis. “Anoxic planets where O2 production never occurs are more likely to resemble the early Earth prior to the GOE,” the authors explain. Credit: Stüeken et al. 2024.$

The main point is that Earth's atmosphere does not reflect the solar nebula the planet formed in. Multiple intertwined processes have changed the atmosphere over time. The search for life involves not only a better understanding of these processes, but how to identify what stage exoplanets might be in.

It's axiomatic that biological processes can have a dramatic effect on planetary atmospheres. "On the modern Earth, the atmospheric composition is very strongly controlled by life," the researchers write. "However, any potential atmospheric biosignature must be disentangled from a backdrop of abiotic (geological and astrophysical) processes that also contribute to planetary atmospheres and would be dominating on lifeless worlds and on planets with a very small biosphere."

The authors outline what they say are the most important lessons that the early Earth can teach us about the search for life.

The first is that the Earth has actually had three different atmospheres throughout its long history. The first one came from the solar nebula and was lost soon after the planet formed. That's the primary atmosphere. The second one formed from outgassing from the planet's interior.

The third one, Earth's modern atmosphere, is complex. It's a balancing act involving life, plate tectonics, volcanism, and even atmospheric escape. A better understanding of how Earth's atmosphere has changed over time gives researchers a better understanding of what they see in exoplanet atmospheres.

The second is that the further we look back in time, the more the rock record of Earth's early life is altered or destroyed. Our best evidence suggests life was present by 3.5 billion years ago, maybe even by 3.7 billion years ago. If that's the case, the first life may have existed on a world covered in oceans, with no continental land masses and only volcanic islands.

If there had been abundant volcanic and geological activity between 3.5 and 3.7 billion years ago, there would've been large fluxes of CO 2 and H 2 . Since these are substrates for methanogenesis, then methane may have been abundant in the atmosphere and detectable.

The third lesson the authors outline is that a planet can host oxygen-producing life for a long time before oxygen can be detected in an atmosphere. Scientists think that oxygenic photosynthesis appeared on Earth in the mid-Archean eon. The Archean spanned from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, so mid-Archean is sometime around 3.25 billion years ago. But oxygen couldn't accumulate in the atmosphere until the Great Oxygenation Event about 2.4 billion years ago.

Oxygen is a powerful biomarker, and if it is found in an exoplanet's atmosphere, it would be cause for excitement. But life on Earth was around for a long time before atmospheric oxygen would've been detectable.

The fourth lesson involves the appearance of horizontal plate tectonics and its effect on chemistry. "From the GOE onwards, the Earth looked tectonically similar to today," the authors write. The oceans were likely stratified into an anoxic layer and an oxygenated surface layer. However, hydrothermal activity constantly introduced ferrous iron into the oceans. That increased the sulfate levels in the seawater which reduced the methane in the atmosphere. Without that methane, Earth's biosphere would've been much less detectable.

"Planet Earth has evolved over the past 4.5 billion years from an entirely anoxic planet with possibly a different tectonic regime to the oxygenated world with horizontal plate tectonics that we know today," the authors explain. All that complex evolution allowed life to appear and to thrive, but it also makes detecting earlier biospheres on exoplanets more complicated.

We're at a huge disadvantage in the search for life on exoplanets. We can literally dig into Earth's ancient rock to try to untangle the long history of life on Earth and how the atmosphere evolved over billions of years. When it comes to exoplanets, all we have is telescopes. Increasingly powerful telescopes, but telescopes nonetheless. While we are beginning to explore our own solar system, especially Mars and the tantalizing ocean moons orbiting the gas giants, other solar systems are beyond our physical reach.

"We must instead remotely recognize the presence of alien biospheres and characterize their biogeochemical cycles in planetary spectra obtained with large ground- and space-based telescopes," the authors write. "These telescopes can probe atmospheric composition by detecting absorption features associated with specific gases." Probing atmospheric gases is our most powerful approach right now, as the JWST shows.

But as scientists get better tools, they'll start to go beyond atmospheric chemistry. "We might also be able to recognize global-scale surface features, including light interaction with photosynthetic pigments and 'glint' arising from specular reflection of light by a liquid ocean."

Understanding what we're seeing in exoplanet atmospheres parallels our understanding of Earth's long history. Earth could be the key to our broadening and accelerating search for life.

"Unraveling the details of Earth's complex biogeochemical history and its relationship with remotely observable spectral signals is an important consideration for instrument design and our own search for life in the universe," the authors write.

Provided by Universe Today

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Race against time: How scientists tracked the strongest solar storm to hit Earth

Reported By: Sibu Tripathi

Inside the global effort to track the strongest solar storm, which triggered the most powerful auroras seen in over 500 years.

The Sun has reached peak activity in its 11-year cycle as it blasts off plasma and materials towards the inner and outer solar system without a pause. Earth was in the firing line when the strongest solar storm left the Sun in the first week of May.

During the first full week of May, a barrage of large solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields toward Earth, creating the strongest solar storm to reach Earth in two decades.

As they slammed into Earth's magnetic field, they triggered one of the strongest displays of auroras on record in the past 500 years.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Work had already begun to track the peak activity on the Sun in 2023 when scientists predicted the solar maxima , the period of intense activity on the Sun, would be earlier than anticipated. They had accurately predicted it to happen in 2024.

The first signs of an impending solar storm were observed on May 7 with two strong solar flares. From May 7-11, multiple strong solar flares and at least seven coronal mass ejections, the most powerful explosions from the Sun, stormed toward Earth. Eight of the flares in this period were the most powerful type, known as the X-class.

The origin was from sunspot AR3664, a colossal feature that is a staggering 15 times wider than Earth itself. Sunspots are temporary, dark regions on the surface of the Sun with temperatures of about 3,800 to 4,500 degrees Celsius. These are regions of intense magnetic activity, which are thousands of times stronger than Earth's magnetic field.

This gargantuan sunspot is so immense that it can be observed with the naked eye through ordinary eclipse glasses, without the need for magnification. In the days that followed, it began exploding with some of the strongest flares and coronal mass ejections.

SCIENTISTS ON ALERT

Scientists at the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI) were observing the activity of the Sun ramping up. Their calculations revealed that the mega sunspot contained four times higher magnetic flux, electric current and energy compared to a normal flare-producing active region.

"We realised immediately that we were dealing with a super active region capable of producing multiple strong flares and CMEs," Dr Dibyendu Nandi of the CESSI told IndiaToday.in.

CESSI issued a rare severe class space weather bulletin immediately and alerted scientists at Isro and other institutions associated with the AdityaL1 mission, India's maiden solar probe , to begin tracking and ensuring the safety of assets in space.

Meanwhile, the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center also issued predictions and global alerts. It sent notifications to operators of power grids and commercial satellites to help them mitigate potential impacts.

As the alerts began pouring in, several big missions, including Nasa's ICESat-2 — which studies polar ice sheets — entered safe mode. SpaceX began countermeasures to safeguard Starlink satellites, which were reeling under pressure from the solar storm. Isro's Master Control Facility (MCF) sprung into action to save over 50 spacecraft India has in orbit.

HOW BAD WAS IT?

Travelling at a staggering speed of 48 lakh kilometres per hour, the coronal mass ejections barrelled through space to slam into Earth. Starting May 10, the intense activity kicked off a stunning display of auroras in several parts of the world including India , the rarest of rare occurrences.

Elizabeth MacDonald, NASA heliophysics citizen science lead, said that all the CMEs arrived largely at once, and the conditions were just right to create a historic storm.

Scientists compared it to one of the biggest solar events in decades and the aurora display was the best in over five centuries.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Nasa has said that the giant sunspot that triggered the storm is now on the other side of the Sun and Earth is safe from any impact. However, it's not over yet.

The sunspot is starting to come into view of Mars.

Photos: AFP, Nasa, Getty, IISER, IIA

Our Mission

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Walking Meditation

The late Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized the practice of mindful walking as a profound way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth. Read on and learn how to breathe, take a mindful step, and come back to your true home.

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Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk quietly and take each gentle step with reverence. I propose that we walk this way every time we walk on the earth. The earth is sacred and we touch her with each step. We should be very respectful, because we are walking on our mother. If we walk like that, then every step will be grounding, every step will be nourishing.

We can train ourselves to walk with reverence. Wherever we walk, whether it’s the railway station or the supermarket, we are walking on the earth and so we are in a holy sanctuary. If we remember to walk like that, we can be nourished and find solidity with each step.

To walk in this way, we have to notice each step. Each step made in mindfulness can bring us back to the here and the now. Go slowly. Mindfulness lights our way. We don’t rush. With each breath we may take just one step. We may have run all our life, but now we don’t have to run anymore. This is the time to stop running. To be grounded in the earth is to feel its solidity with each step and know that we are right where we are supposed to be.

Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet. We don’t need anything else. It is wonderful enough just to be alive, to breathe in, and to make one step. We have arrived at where real life is available—the present moment. If we breathe and walk in this way, we become as solid as a mountain.

There are those of us who have a comfortable house, but we don’t feel that we are at home. We don’t want for anything, and yet we don’t feel at home. All of us are looking for our solid ground, our true home. The earth is our true home and it is always there, beneath us and around us. Breathe, take a mindful step, and arrive. We are already at home.

Uniting Body and Mind

We can’t be grounded in our body if our mind is somewhere else. We each have a body that has been given us by the earth. This body is a wonder. In our daily lives, we may spend many hours forgetting the body. We get lost in our computer or in our worries, fear, or busyness. Walking meditation makes us whole again. Only when we are connected with our body are we truly alive. Healing is not possible without that connection. So walk and breathe in such a way that you can connect with your body deeply.

Walking meditation unites our body and our mind. We combine our breathing with our steps. When we breathe in, we may take two or three steps. When we breathe out, we may take three, four, or five steps. We pay attention to what is comfortable for our body.

Our breathing has the function of helping our body and mind to calm down. As we walk, we can say, Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I bring peace into my body. Calming the breath calms the body and reduces any pain and tension.

Walking meditation is first and foremost a practice to bring body and mind together peacefully.

When we walk like this, with our breath, we bring our body and our mind back together. Our body and our mind are two aspects of the same reality. If we remove our mind from our body, our body is dead. If we take our body out of our mind, our mind is dead. Don’t think that one can be if the other is not.

Walking meditation is first and foremost a practice to bring body and mind together peacefully. No matter what we do, the place to start is to calm down, because when our mind and our body have calmed down, we see more clearly. When we see our anger or sadness clearly, it dissipates. We begin to feel more compassion for ourselves and others. We can only feel this when body and mind are united.

Walking meditation should not be work. It is very pleasant, especially in the early morning when the air is still very fresh. When we walk mindfully, we see the beauty and the wonder of the earth around us, and we wake up. We see that we are living a very wonderful moment. If our mind is caught and preoccupied with our worries and suffering, we miss these things. We can value each step we take, and each step brings us happiness. When we look again at the earth and the sky, we see that the earth is a wonderful reality.

We Are Not Separate From the Earth

We think that the earth is the earth and we are something outside of the earth. But in fact we are inside of the earth. Imagine that the earth is the tree and we are a leaf. The earth is not the environment, something outside of us that we need to care for. The earth is us. Just as your parents, ancestors, and teachers are inside you, the earth is in you. Taking care of the earth, we take care of ourselves.

When we see that the earth is not just the environment, that the earth is in us, at that moment you can have real communion with the earth. But if we see the earth as only the environment, with ourselves in the center, then we only want to do something for the earth in order for us to survive. But that is not enough. That is a dualistic way of seeing.

We have to practice looking at our planet not just as matter, but as a living and sentient being. The universe, the sun, and the stars have contributed many elements to the earth, and when we look into the earth we see that it’s a very beautiful flower containing the presence of the whole universe. When we look into our own bodily formation, we are made of the same elements as the planet. It has made us. The earth and the universe are inside of us.

When we take mindful steps on the earth, our body and mind unite, and we unite with the earth. The earth gave birth to us and the earth will receive us again. Nothing is lost. Nothing is born. Nothing dies. We don’t need to wait until after our body has disintegrated to go back to Mother Earth. We are going back to Mother Earth at every moment. Whenever we breathe, whenever we step, we are returning to the earth. Even when we scratch ourselves, skin cells will fall and return to the earth.

Breathing in, I know Mother Earth is in me. Breathing out, I know Mother Earth is in me.

Earth includes the life sphere and the atmosphere. So you don’t have to wait until you die to go back to Mother Earth, because you are already in Mother Earth. We have to return to take refuge in our beautiful planet. I know that earth is my home. I don’t need to die in order to go back to Mother Earth. I am in Mother Earth right now, and Mother Earth is in me.

You may like to try this exercise while you walk: Breathing in, I know Mother Earth is in me. Breathing out, I know Mother Earth is in me.

Paul Tillich, the German theologian, said, “God is not a person but not less than a person.” This is true of the earth as well. It is more than a person. It has given birth to millions of species, including human beings. Many ancient cultures believed there was a deity that inhabited the sun, and they worshiped the sun. But when I do walking meditation and touching the earth, I do not have that kind of dualistic view. I am not worshiping the earth as a separate deity outside of myself.

I think of the earth as a bodhisattva, a great and compassionate being. A bodhisattva is a being who has awakening, understanding, and love. Any living being who has awakening, peace, understanding, and love can be called a bodhisattva, but a bodhisattva doesn’t have to be a human being. When we look into a tree, we see the tree is fresh, it nourishes life, and it offers shade and beauty. It’s a place of refuge for so many birds and other creatures. A bodhisattva is not something that is up in the clouds far away from us. Bodhisattvas are all around us. A young person who has love, who has freshness, who has understanding, who offers us a lot of happiness, is a bodhisattva. The pine standing in the garden gives us joy, offers us oxygen, and makes life more beautiful.

When we say that earth is a beautiful bodhisattva, this is not our imagination. It is a fact that the earth is giving life and she is very beautiful. The bodhisattva is not a separate spirit inhabiting the earth; we should transcend that idea. There are not two separate things—the earth, which is a material thing, and the spirit of the earth, a nonmaterial thing that inhabits the earth.

Our planet earth is itself a true, great bodhisattva. It embodies so many great virtues. The earth is solid—it can carry so many things. It is patient—it takes its time moving glaciers and carving rocks. The earth doesn’t discriminate. We can throw fragrant flowers on the earth, or we can throw urine and excrement on the earth, and the earth purifies it. The earth has a great capacity to endure, and it offers so much to nourish us—water, shelter, food, and air to breathe.

When we recognize the virtues, the talent, the beauty of the earth bodhisattva, love is born. You love the earth and the earth loves you. You would do anything for the well-being of the earth. And the earth will do anything for your well-being. That is the natural outcome of the real loving relationship. The earth is not just your environment, to be taken care of or worshiped; you are each other. Every mindful step can manifest that love.

With each step the earth heals us, and with each step we heal the earth.

Part of love is responsibility. In Buddhism, we speak of meditation as an act of awakening. To awaken is to be awake to something. We need to be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species on earth are also in danger. When we walk mindfully, each step reminds us of our responsibility. We have to protect the earth with the same commitment we have to protect our family and ourselves. The earth can nourish and heal us but it suffers as well. With each step the earth heals us, and with each step we heal the earth.

When we walk mindfully on the face of the earth, we are grounded in her generosity and we cannot help but be grateful. All of the earth’s qualities of patience, stability, creativity, love, and nondiscrimination are available to us when we walk reverently, aware of our connection.

Let the Buddha Walk

I have a student named Sister Tri Hai who spent a long time in prison. She was a peace activist I knew since she was in middle school. She came to the United States to study English literature before going back to Vietnam and becoming a nun. When she was out in the streets advocating for peaceful change, she was arrested and put in prison.

During the day, the prison guards didn’t like her to sit in meditation. When they see someone sitting in a prison cell solidly and stably, it feels a bit threatening. So she waited until the lights had gone out, and she would sit like a person who has freedom. In outer appearance she was caught in the prison. But inside she was completely free. When you sit like that, the walls are not there. You’re in touch with the whole universe. You have more freedom than people outside who are imprisoning themselves in their agitation.

Sister Tri Hai also practiced walking meditation in her prison cell. It was very small—after seven steps she had to turn around and come back. Sitting and walking mindfully gave her space inside. She taught other prisoners in her cell how to sit and how to breathe so they would suffer less. They were in a cold cell, but through their walking meditation, they were grounded in the solid beauty of the earth.

Those of us who can walk on the earth, who can walk in freedom, should do it. If we rush from one place to another, without practicing walking meditation, it is such a waste. What is walking for? Walking is for nothing. It’s just for walking. That is our ultimate aim—walking in the spring breeze. We have to walk so that we have happiness, so that we can be a free person. We have to let go of everything, and not seek or long or search for anything. There is enough for us to be happy.

All the Buddhist stories tell us that the Buddha had a lot of happiness when he sat, when he walked, when he ate. We have some experience of this. We know there are moments when we’re walking or sitting that we are so happy. We also know that there are times, because of illness or physical disability or because our mind is caught elsewhere, when we cannot walk freely like the Buddha. There are those of us who do not have the use of our legs. There are those of us who are in prison, like Sister Tri Hai, and only have a few feet of space. But we can all invite the Buddha to walk for us. When we have difficulty, we can leave that difficulty behind and let the Buddha walk for us. In a while the solidity of the earth can help us return to ourselves.

If we sit mindfully, if we walk mindfully and reverently on the earth, we will generate the energies of mindfulness, of peace, and of compassion in both body and mind.

We are made of body and mind. Our body can radiate the energy of peace and compassion. Our mind also has energy. The energy of the mind can be powerful. If the energy of the mind is filled with fear and anger, it can be very destructive. But if we sit mindfully, if we walk mindfully and reverently on the earth, we will generate the energies of mindfulness, of peace, and of compassion in both body and mind. This kind of energy can heal and transform.

If you walk reverently on the earth with two other people, soaking in the earth’s solidity, you will all three radiate and benefit from the energy of peace and compassion. If three hundred people sit or walk like this, each one generates the energy of mindfulness, peace, and compassion, and everyone in the group receives that healing energy. The energy of peace and mindfulness does not come from elsewhere. It comes from us. It comes from our capacity to breathe, to walk, to sit mindfully and recognize the wonders of life.

When you walk reverently and solidly on this earth and I do the same, we send out waves of compassion and peace. It is this compassion that will heal ourselves, each other, and this beautiful green earth.

Meditation: Walking on the Earth

Walk slowly, in a relaxed way. When you practice this way, your steps are those of the most secure person on earth. Feel the gravity that makes every step attach to the earth. With each step, you are grounded on the earth.

One way to practice walking meditation is to breathe in and take one step, and focus all your attention on the sole of your foot. If you have not arrived fully, 100 percent in the here and the now, don’t take the next step. I’m sure you can take a step like that because there is buddhanature in you. Buddhanature is the capacity of being aware of what is going on. It is what allows you to recognize what you are doing in the current moment and to say to yourself, I am alive, I am taking a step. Anyone can do this. There is a buddha in every one of us, and we should allow the buddha to walk.

While walking, practice conscious breathing by counting steps. Notice each breath and the number of steps you take as you breathe in and as you breathe out. Don’t try to control your breathing. Allow your lungs as much time and air as they need, and simply notice how many steps you take as your lungs fill up and how many you take as they empty, mindful of both your breath and your steps. The link is the counting.

When you walk uphill or downhill, the number of steps per breath will change. Always follow the needs of your lungs. You may notice that your exhalation is longer than your inhalation. You might find that you take three steps during your in-breath and four steps during your out-breath, or two steps, then three steps. If this is comfortable for you, please enjoy practicing this way. You can also try making the in-breath and the out-breath the same length, so that you take three steps with your in-breath and three with your out-breath. Keep walking and you will find the natural connection between your breath and your steps.

Don’t forget to practice smiling. Your half-smile will bring calm and delight to your steps and your breath, and help sustain your attention. After practicing for half an hour or an hour, you will find that your breath, your steps, your counting, and your half-smile all blend together in a marvelous balance of mindfulness. Each step grounds us in the solidity of the earth. With each step we fully arrive in the present moment.

Walking Meditation Poem

I take refuge in Mother Earth. Every breath, every step manifests our love. Every breath brings happiness. Every step brings happiness. I see the whole cosmos in the earth.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Where On Earth Is Rudy Giuliani? Arizona Prosecutors Can't Find Former NYC Mayor, Trump Ally

Rudy Giuliani took part in an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona .

Prosecutors can’t find the former New York City mayor to serve him legal papers.

What Happened : A group of ex-President Donald Trump 's allies were indicted last month in Arizona. Prosecutors also charged 11 individuals who acted as fake GOP electors.

Giuliani, who went bankrupt in December , is the only defendant prosecutors have been unable to serve with a summons.

Calls to the Arizona attorney general's office were not immediately returned.

A team of prosecutors and investigators working for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes , a Democrat, has made multiple attempts to locate Giuliani, CNN reported .

Agents working with the attorney general's office traveled to New York City to hand-deliver the notice to Giuliani. They were not allowed to service the documents at the front desk where Giuliani lives, according to the Washington Post.

Giuliani lost his radio show at New York City’s WABC affiliate last week. He quickly relaunched “The Rudy Giuliani Show” on YouTube and is believed to be livestreaming from his apartment.

See Also: Trump May Campaign With Ankle Bracelet From Mar-A-Lago, Former White House Aide Points Out Ex-President’s ‘Cardinal Sin’

Why It Matters : Trump is not among those charged in Arizona. The indictment documents suggest he is "Unindicted Coconspirator 1."

"In Arizona, and the United States, the people elected Joseph Biden as President on November 3, 2020," the indictment reads.

"Unwilling to accept this fact, Defendants and unindicted co-conspirators schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency to keep Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in office against the will of Arizona's voters.

Among those charged:

Mark Meadows , Trump's former White House chief of staff
Boris Epshteyn , a longtime Trump aide who was charged with conspiracy, fraud and forgery
Christina Bobb , once touted as the GOP’s "election integrity" lawyer, was indicted for election subversion
Mike Roman , a former Trump campaign aide who oversaw Election Day operations
Jenna Ellis , another Trump lawyer, who already pleaded guilty in Georgia for trying to subvert the 2020 election

Several of Trump’s pals have already been sentenced for charges separate from election fraud:

Former Trump advisors Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro — both in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.
Michael Cohen , who is testifying against Trump as part of the hush money and falsified business record trial in New York .
Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for fraud related to his work in Ukraine.
George Papadopoulos , a former Trump campaign advisor, served 12 days in prison in 2018 for lying to investigators about Russian contacts. Trump pardoned him in December 2020.
Roger Stone , a Trump associate, was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2020 for witness tampering. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence, and the two have on occasion been campaigning together .
Rick Gates , Trump’s deputy chairman for the 2016 campaign, spent 45 days in prison for lying to the FBI .

What’s Next : The summons — formal notice that Giuliani has been criminally charged — states he must appear before a judge on May 21.

Whether twice-impeached Trump will continue helping Giuliani with legal costs remains to be seen . Their relationship has been reportedly strained largely due to Giuliani's unsuccessful legal battles on Trump's behalf.

Now Read: Biden Signals Intent To Debate Trump In June — ‘Make My Day, Pal’

Image: Shutterstock .

This article Where On Earth Is Rudy Giuliani? Arizona Prosecutors Can't Find Former NYC Mayor, Trump Ally originally appeared on Benzinga.com .

Slim Shady 'obituary' runs in The Detroit News, teasing upcoming Eminem album

"the death of slim shady" is due out this summer..

Sometimes it pays to read the print edition of the newspaper.

On page 3B of Monday's Detroit News, tucked inside the Sports section underneath a college football notebook item, a three-paragraph "obituary" ran for Slim Shady, the alter ego of rap superstar Eminem.

"Slim Shady Made Lasting Impressions," reads the headline of the obit, a covert piece of advertising for Eminem's upcoming new album "The Death of Slim Shady." "Fans 'Will Never Forget' Controversial Rapper."

Underneath a picture of Eminem in overalls and a hockey mask, a look he sported on 2000's "Up in Smoke" tour, the copy reads, "A product of Detroit who began his career there as a rogue splinter in the flourishing underground rap scene of the mid to late 1990's, Shady first became a household name in 1999 with the debut of his playfully deranged single 'My Name Is,' which — along with its uniquely eye catching video — exposed the young artist and his lyrics to a wider audience.

"That audience was soon exposed to the extreme darkness of the muse/ rapper, as he led millions of music fans down a road that glorified a demonstrably nihilistic worldview."

The obit continues and talks about the rapper's "horrific end," as well as "his complex and tortured existence."

"May he truly find the peace in an afterlife that he could not find on Earth."

The piece is marked as an advertisement, but there's no reference to the album, or to Eminem, or to Marshall Mathers.

The ad also ran in Monday's Detroit Free Press.

"The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)" was announced last month , the same night that Eminem appeared at the opening of the NFL Draft in downtown Detroit.

The set is the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's 12th studio album, and first since 2020's "Music to Be Murdered By."

The album was teased by an advertisement for a fake "Unsolved Mysteries"-type show titled "Detroit Murder Files." Watch the ad here:

No release date has been announced for the album, only a summer timeline.

[email protected]

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