Earth Day 2016 marked with five Google Doodles

1970: America was still at war with Vietnam, amid great protest on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Pike, Jones, and Frazer were at war too, with Germany on the original – now oft-repeated BBC sitcom – Dad’s Army. The optimism of the 1960s was starting to fall flat, as consumerism and higher pollution rates began to take a toll on our planet. These concerns, plus an oil slick in Santa Barbara the following year, would inspire the world’s first Earth Day.

Earth Day was created by Wisconsin senator, Gaylord Nelson, and John McConnell. John McConnell was a peace activist. They thought that all the energies channelled into fighting against the Vietnam War could be channelled towards the survival of our planet. So, on the 22 April 1970, Americans took to their streets, parks and auditoriums, to fight against oil spillages, environmental degradation, and pollution. The Earth Day Network formed to support its development.

46 years on, with a little help from the World Wide Web, it became an international event. One worthy enough to warrant a set of Google Doodles. One that has also seen notable events, such as the Paris Climate Summit. This year, Google has added five doodles, lovingly created by Sophie Diao. All of which expressing how diverse our planet is, from tundra to desert.

Google’s first doodle for Earth Day was created in 2001, as seen below.

Compared with Sophie’s efforts, more modest and prosaic, though served its purpose. The lowercase O was used to display a globe. Plus it was seen on Google pages around the world.

Seen below are Sophie Diao’s quintet of doodles.

Tundra and Northern Lights: Notice how the lone polar bear is shaped like a lowercase ‘L’.

Forest and Red Fox: see how the bark markings are used to create a slightly camouflaged ‘Google’.

Elephant and Grassland: this one captures the atmosphere of an African landscape. See how the setting sun and foliage make up the ‘Google’ text.

Desert and Tortoise: the most minimalist of the five, yet colourful.

Underwater: Sophie’s most colourful and hypnotic of the five. Notice how the sea animals make the ‘Google’ lettering.

Net66, 22 April 2016.