How Earth Day moved environmentalism front and center
.article-badge{display: block; margin:20px 0;}@media only screen and (min-width: 768px){.article-badge{position:absolute; left:-32%; top: -200px;margin:0;}}@media only screen and (min-width: 1070px){.article-badge{left:-260px;}} When Earth Day began on April 22, 1970, many people wondered if the end might be near. Concern was fervent enough, in fact, that 20 million Americans — 10 percent of the population — packed demonstrations and teach-ins in cities and towns around the nation. Nobel-winning Harvard biochemist George Wald articulated the fears in a speech later that year at the University of Rhode Island, warning that civilization would end within 15 to 30 years unless immediate action were taken against threats facing mankind, including pollution, overpopulation, and potential nuclear war. As it turns 50, Earth Day is widely recognized as having ignited the modern environmental movement and brought those concerns into classrooms, legislatures, courtrooms, boardrooms, and living rooms, often borne along by popular culture. It was largely triggered by the Santa Barbara oil spill of January...