Climate activists mark Earth Day as global temperatures hit record high

Today marks the 53rd annual celebration of Earth Day, intended to honour the achievements of environmentalists and climate activists, while raising awareness of the need to protect the planet's future. 

To mark Earth Day, climate activists take to the streets to highlight the urgent need to combat global warming. © AFP

Volunteers in dozens of countries are set to plant trees, clean up trash and urge governments to do more to combat climate change to mark Earth Day, as scientists warn of more extreme weather and record temperatures this year.

The run-up to the 54th annual celebration of the environment, officially marked on Saturday, has included a week of conservation and clean-up activities around the world. Festivals got under way in Rome and Boston on Friday.

Thousands gathered in London on Friday to kick-off four days of events known as the "Big One", organised by the Extinction Rebellion activist group.

A rally was also staged in Washington DC urging President Joe Biden to commit to ending the use of fossil fuels.

This Saturday, volunteers will also begin major clean-up campaigns at Lake Dal in India's Srinigar and Florida's hurricane-hit Cape Coral.

⚠️ LIVE AT THE BIG ONE ⚠️ Thousands of people have descended on Westminster today, #21April, for the first day of #TheBigOne. It’s time for change. It’s time to #UniteToSurvive. https://t.co/dEYCpc0kMA

— Extinction Rebellion : XR Global (@ExtinctionR) April 21, 2023

'Hellbent on destruction'

Last Thursday, President Biden pledged to increase US funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest during a meeting with leaders from the world's largest economies.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told countries attending Biden's Major Economies Forum that "a quantum leap in climate action" was required to limit temperature rises to 1.5° Celsius.

He warned in a recorded Earth Day message that "we seem hellbent on destruction".

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Today’s policies would make our world 2.8 degrees hotter by end of the century.

This is a death sentence.

The final fight to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees will be won or lost on the watch of the major economies, who are also the major emitters. https://t.co/FIBUoygcdH

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 21, 2023

Killer heatwaves, melting glaciers

Earth Day this year follows weeks of extreme weather with temperatures hitting a record 45.4°Celsius in Thailand and another punishing heatwave in India, where at least 13 people died of heatstroke at a ceremony last weekend.

Scientists warned this week that killer heatwaves were putting "unprecedented burdens" on India's agriculture, economy and public health, and undermining the country's long-term efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and illness.

On Thursday, climate scientists said that average global temperatures could hit record highs this year or in 2024, driven by climate change and the anticipated return of the "El Niño" weather phenomenon.

This comes as the United Nations' World Meteorological Organisation announced Friday that the world's glaciers melted at a dramatic rate last year and saving them is effectively a lost cause, adding that the last eight years have been the warmest ever recorded.