Earth Day Celebrations 2016: Historic Signing Of UN Climate Pact, New NASA Earth Mission Video, Google Doodles And More

Earth Day 2016 saw celebrations that panned from high-ranking leaders of more than 170 countries signing the landmark Paris climate accord, to a spectacular high definition view of Earth from the ISS released by NASA, and to Google revealing its own collection of special doodles to mark the day. The emphasis of the various events was to protect our beautiful planet.

Leaders from nearly 175 nations signed a far-reaching climate agreement at the United Nations (UN) on Earth Day, April 22. The UN ceremony, which paves the world towards a more sustainable future involving low carbon growth, saw the largest single-day turnout for such an event. The ceremony was held four months after a deal was made in Paris, and it heralds the first step that will bind the countries to the promises they have made to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The Paris Agreement will come into full effect as soon as the 55 countries that are responsible for emitting 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gases sign the pact, and 2020 is the targeted date for the agreement to commence. Environmental campaigner, Hollywood actor and Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio was also present at the ceremony and addressed the gathering.

Google unveiled a set of several Doodles in celebration of Earth Day. The Doodles featured artistic impressions of five major ecological settings, with a focus on their topography and fauna respectively. The paintings included an elephant in a grassland, a red fox in a forest, a tortoise in a desert, an octopus and a coral reef in the ocean and a polar bear in the tundra.

NASA released an ultra high definition video which shows a view of our planet as seen from the International Space Station (ISS). The space agency is going to publicize its many missions that study and protect Earth using the hashtag #24Seven to mark the day. Incidentally, the agency has also asked people to share photos of activities they are doing to protect the planet with the same hashtag. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency (ESA) has published its own video, titled "The Many Faces of Earth," that reveals various satellite images of Earth that cover different aspects like atmospheric makeup, temperature and topography seen through sensors.