Since its inception on April 22, 1970, Earth Day has evolved into the “largest participatory environmental movement on the planet.” The movement is rooted in a belief that each individual has the power—and the obligation—to reduce their environmental impact. 

Action begins with education, and our magazines have the information you need to speak up, and to stand strong, as an advocate for Alberta’s natural environment. 

In 1970, the same year as the first Earth Day, six natural history clubs here in Alberta joined forces to create the Federation of Alberta Naturalists. Today, they are known as Nature Alberta, and represent over 50 grassroots nature organizations across the province. As part of their commitment to increasing environmental literacy, they publish the quarterly Nature Alberta Magazine, with issues offering “informative, educational, and engaging nature writing and photography” to inspire a broad audience of readers, and to strengthen a connection with Alberta’s local habitats and wild places. 

In the Winter 2025 issue of Nature Alberta, Tharindu Kalukapuge’s “Voices from the Forest: Boreal Songbirds and the Impact of Energy Footprints” is an in-depth examination of Alberta’s energy-related development activities and their impact on the boreal forest. Why focus on birds? Because “birds have long been used as indicators of environmental changes caused by human activities…”

Circle, the alumni magazine of the Augustana Campus at the University of Alberta, also addresses the human impact on Alberta’s environment in “A better balance” by Oumar Salifou. We learn about the work of Augustana graduate John Pattison-Williams and his study of wetlands—“which are a valuable tool and in many places a disappearing resource in the mitigation of climate change”—and the complex world of resource management. 

There is the impact of climate change on wildlife and the landscape, but let’s not forget the impact this has on us humans. Taylor Lambert takes a closer look at “The Human Cost of Climate Change” for The Sprawl: “From a possible influx of people fleeing newly unlivable parts of the world, to the mental health aspects linked to the loss of one’s environment, these effects may not be as conspicuous as melting glaciers or natural disasters, but their ramifications can be devastating for individuals, families, and society at large.”

This aspect of climate change, and the toll it has on our mental health, is also addressed in MacEwan University’s student publication The Griff, with “Eco-anxiety: climate change stress sucks, but may be a normal response” by Leanna Bressan and Joelle Fagan. “It turns out, experiencing a constant barrage of negative messaging about the environment can have harmful effects on one’s mental health.”

Although it’s important to understand the consequences of our actions on the environment, and the impact of climate change on ourselves, we return again to the Earth Day message about the power of the individual. Take, for example, the influx of alternative and renewable energy sources we have available to us, literally right here at home. St. Albert’s t8n magazine offers a look at solar panels and whether the personal investment pays off in the long run (it does), and concludes that “following in the wake of coal and natural gas and oil booms, solar and other forms of renewable energy might just be the next chapter in our energy story.”

This Earth Day, stay informed about what’s happening right here in our local natural environment with an Alberta magazine. Then turn that knowledge into action. Because small changes can have a global impact.