Earth Day 2019: People share stunning photos of the globe to celebrate annual event

In honour of Earth Day, people around the globe are sharing their support for the annual initiative with incredible photos of nature.

This year marks the 49th celebration of Earth Day, with the theme for the day “protect our species”.

On social media, people are showing the beauty of the Earth and its inhabitants with photos of grassy plains to mountainous regions and various animals.

These are some of the best Earth Day photos.

Among those sharing their favourite photos of the globe are celebrities and notable figures, including Buzz Aldrin and Tim Cook.

Aldrin, one of the first people to land on the Moon, shared a photo of Earth as seen from the lunar surface.

“Celebrating Earth Day by looking back on the most incredible view of Earth I’ve ever seen – from the Moon!” he wrote on Twitter.

Cook, the CEO of Apple, shared a series of photos in honour of the holiday, featuring animals ranging from penguins and reptiles to giraffes.

“Happy Earth Day everyone! What a beautiful world we live in,” he wrote. “Let’s all embrace our shared responsibility to each other to take care of our one and only planet Earth.”

Justin Trudeau also expressed the importance of protecting our planet, writing alongside a photo of himself walking through a forest: “We only have one planet. Our kids are counting on us to keep it clean and healthy.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared their support for the planet on Instagram, where they shared photos taken by Prince Harry, including an African Rhino, Botswana’s Okavango Delta, lions, and humpback and orca whales.

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Today is #earthday – an opportunity to learn about, celebrate and continue to safeguard our planet, our home. The above image, Royal Highnesses in Rotorua, New Zealand. Of the 170 different species originally planted in the early 1900’s, only a handful of species, including these majestic Redwoods, remain today. Next, we invite you to scroll through a series of 9 photos taken by The Duke of Sussex©️DOS sharing his environmental POV including: Africa’s Unicorn, the rhino. These magnificent animals have survived ice ages and giant crocodiles, amongst other things! They have adapted to earth’s changing climate continually for over 30 million years. Yet here we are in 2019 where their biggest threat is us. A critical ecosystem, Botswana’s Okavango Delta sustains millions of people and an abundance of wildlife. Huge bush fires, predominantly started by humans, are altering the entire river system; the ash kills the fish as the flood comes in and the trees that don’t burn become next year’s kindling. Desert lions are critically endangered due partly to human wildlife conflict, habitat encroachment and climate change. 96% of mammals on our 🌍 are either livestock or humans, meaning only 4% remaining are wild animals. Orca and Humpback whale populations are recovering in Norway thanks to the protection of their fisheries. Proof that fishing sustainably can benefit us all. Roughly 3/4 of Guyana is forested, its forests are highly diverse with 1,263 known species of wildlife and 6,409 species of plants. Many countries continue to try and deforest there for the global demand for timber. We all now know the damage plastics are causing to our oceans. Micro plastics are also ending up in our food source, creating not just environmental problems for our planet but medical problems for ourselves too. When a fenced area passes its carrying capacity for elephants, they start to encroach into farmland causing havoc for communities. Here @AfricanParksNetwork relocated 500 Elephants to another park within Malawi to reduce the pressure on human wildlife conflict and create more dispersed tourism. Every one of us can make a difference, not just today but everyday #earthday

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Apr 22, 2019 at 6:54am PDT

“Every one of us can make a difference, not just today but everyday,” the couple wrote.