Earth Day pledge

Yesterday seemed to be a day of irony for Mother Earth. Since April 22 was designated as the World Earth Day in 1970, the problems in the relationship between human enterprise and nature, so vital for our survival, have rapidly escalated.

Serious environmental problems are not centuries away but an increasing part of our daily lives.

From rising food prices coupled with decreasing crop yields and depleted topsoil to collapsing Antarctic ice shelves, from extensive droughts to massive floods, from persistent organic pollution to greenhouse gases, from frequent weather extremities to the death of many coral reefs, the planet is facing a series of linked crises which potentially threaten the quality - and even the very existence - of human life.