This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. You'll see your favorite actors, directors, and comedians on late-night TV shows or YouTube, but what you get with Fresh Air is a deep dive. Spend some quality time with people like Billy Elish, Questlove, Ariana Grande, Stephen Colbert, and so many more. We ask questions you won't hear asked anywhere else.

Listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and WHYWI. Hi everyone, it's Earth Day. It means a lot to me that

you're out there listening and interested in the things we talk about on the wild.

And if you're anything like me, you might be feeling a lot of uncertainty,

worried about the environmental health of the planet, our natural world.

Political leaders seem unable or unwilling to take action on climate change,

and we continue our rapid loss of biodiversity.

So today, on Earth Day 2025, I want to share with you a little story I wrote for the wild a few

years ago. I hope now it will provide you with a different perspective on this tiny blue marble

we call home, and maybe give you a few reasons to be

hopeful for the future don't despair we can all push towards a tipping point where nature becomes a

priority for the world when nature is given the chance to breathe life into our existence as humans

happy earth day to you all.

About 20 years ago, I saw an analogy on a poster in London. I scrambled it down on a notepad because it flawed me at the time and it's really stuck with me since and I wanted to share

some of that with you.

Planet Earth is 4.6 billion years old. That's a very hard number to get your head around.

So instead, think of it like this.

Condense that 4.6 billion years into 46 years.

Think of Earth as a 46-year-old.

Nothing is known about the first seven years of her life.

We know something of the next 35 years, but not in any detail.

At the age of 42, the Earth began to flower, algae, mosses, ferns, then forests.

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