Vernal Equinox and World Earth Daytoday

World Earth Day is held on the Day of the Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the Vernal Equinox Day falls on March 20 at 10:28 UTC, or 14:28 in Tbilisi time. Today, the length of the day and night is almost the same throughout the world. Equinox, occurring in the spring, is one of the most unique and stunning natural phenomena, the essence of which lies in the astronomical principles of the movement of the Sun and the Earth. On the vernal equinoxdaythe Earth, rotating around its own axis and, at the same time, around the Sun, appears in the position when the sun rays are perpendicular to the equator.

At this time, the Sun makes a transition from the southern to the northern hemisphere. From the astronomical point of view, springbeginswith the spring equinox, while autumn,respectively,from the autumnal equinox The gap between the two identical equinoxes is called the tropical year, which is now accepted for the calculation of time. The tropical year has approximately 365 whole and 24 hundredths of sunny days. It is because of this “approximate” value that the spring equinox occurs every year at different times of the day, shifting from year to year about 6 hours ahead. It is noteworthy that in many states, among many nations around the world, the New Year begins with the vernal equinox.

The symbolism of Earth Day is the equilibrium and balance of the equinox. On this day, every person and institution should act as guardian of the Earth, and look for what can be done in the field of ecology, economics, and ethics for the benefit of people and the planet. The tradition of celebrating Earth Day on the vernal equinox was laid by John McConnell, an American businessman and publisher, the creator of the Earth flag. On this day, the Peace Bell sounds every year at the UN headquarters in New York. It starts ringing precisely at the beginning of the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and autumnal in the Southern Hemisphere. The first time the bell of the Peace Bell sounded on the day of the spring equinox on March 21, 1971. The meaning of this ceremony is that for a minute, while the Bell is ringing, people thought what they should do to save the planet, to realize themselves as its citizens and to improve the life of all life on Earth.

In Russia, the ceremony “Peace Bell on Earth Day” has been held since 1998 in the International Center of the Roerichs (Moscow) on the initiative of the USSR pilot-cosmonaut Anatoly Berezovoy.

Press Service of MENR of RT