On the occasion of Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd every year all over the world, NASA has launched an invitation to take a ‘global’ selfie: all those who want to participate in the event will only have to leave their homes and photograph themselves in the own corner of the world, next to mountains, parks, rivers and lakes, and then share the shot on social media using the hashtag GlobalSelfie .
NASA astronauts brought home the first images of the planet seen from space and now, as satellites capture images of Earth every second, the agency invites participants to show it from their own personal point of view. The European Space Agency also participates in Earth Day with a reflection on all the complex and intricate connections that shape our planet: each component, from the atmosphere to the oceans, from the earth’s surface to the ice caps, influences and interacts with the others, making understanding these mechanisms crucial to addressing environmental challenges and mitigating climate change. For example, what happens in the Arctic does not remain confined to this region, often considered distant and isolated, but influences the entire system, contributing to the rise of sea levels and triggering a vicious circle that increasingly amplifies global warming. Another example is Sahara sand and its transcontinental journey: Every year, winds sweep large amounts of sand from the Sahara Desert across the Atlantic Ocean.
Although apparently remote, this phenomenon has a significant impact on ocean ecosystems thousands of kilometers away: it brings with it essential nutrients such as iron and phosphorus, which act as fertilizers for marine organisms, but it can also worsen air quality and , if deposited in sensitive ecosystems such as coral reefs, can introduce pollutants and pathogens.
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