The power of a single image

On April 22, 1970, coordinated events took place in cities across the United States. An estimated 20 million people participated in a protest—still the largest single-day demonstration in American history—the Earth Day protests. What sparked such a massive turnout? In some ways, a single image.

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But before we can discuss that image and its impact, we have to consider the broader cultural context from which it emerged.

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The turbulence of 1960s America had given rise to a generation hungry for change. It was the decade of the Civil Rights Movement, rock and roll, and the Vietnam War. At the same time, the environmental consequences of the industrial revolution were becoming impossible to ignore.

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In 1962, Silent Spring, a book by Rachel Carson, exposed the devastating effects of the widespread and indiscriminate use of the pesticide DDT. In 1969, an oil well off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, spilled more than 3 million gallons of oil, polluting 800 square miles of ocean and killing over 10,000 seabirds, dolphins, seals, and other marine life. Smog choked cities. Toxic pollution flowed into waterways. In Ohio, the Cuyahoga River caught fire. Something which happened at least 14 times.

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But in 1968, while orbiting the Moon, astronaut William Anders took a photograph:

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Titled Earthrise, the image showed Earth as a small blue sphere suspended in the black emptiness of space. In stark contrast to traditional landscape photography, where land seems to stretch on infinitely, this photo conveyed a sobering truth: our planet is finite and fragile. The lunar surface in the foreground, barren, lifeless, and inhospitable, underscored the fact that Earth is our only home.

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The image became a symbol of Earth Day and a rallying point for the growing environmental movement. This movement helped bring about significant policy changes, including the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

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Nature photographer Galen Rowell called Earthrise “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.”¹

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But how can a single image, like this one, affect us so powerfully? Our brains process visual imagery far faster than text: striking photographs instantly engage emotional centers like the amygdala, producing visceral responses that words alone rarely evoke.² This can lead to lasting emotional impact. Whether it’s an image taken from the moon, perilous war photography, or a polar bear crossing a shrinking field of Arctic ice, we’ve all experienced the instant emotional response certain images can make us feel.

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More than 50 years later, as we grapple with climate change, population growth, habitat loss, and more, Earthrise and images like it remain powerful reminders: we have only one planet—and we must protect it, both from ourselves and for ourselves.

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