Every year on the fourth Sunday in September, World Rivers Day highlights the many values of rivers and streams. It’s also a day to encourage the improved stewardship of rivers around the world.
It’s difficult to determine the exact number of rivers in the world. According to experts, there are 165 major rivers. These waterways are long and wide and contain large volumes of flowing water. Seventy-six rivers are over 1,000 miles long. Some of the world’s longest rivers include:
- Nile (4,135 miles long)
- Amazon (3,980 miles long)
- Yangtze (3,917 miles long)
- Mississippi and Missouri (3,902 miles and the longest river system in North America)
- Yenisei (3,445 miles long)
- Yellow (3,398 miles long)
In December of 2003, the United Nations proclaimed 2005 to 2015 as “Water for Life Decade.” Their goal was to create awareness for better care of our planet’s water resources. The decade officially began on March 22, 2005. Soon after, Mark Angelo founded World Rivers Day. Angelo is from British Columbia, Canada and is also the founder of BC Rivers Day. The first World Rivers Day took place in 2005. Dozens of countries celebrated the day. Since then, the day has been celebrated by millions of people in up to 100 countries.
The theme for World Rivers Day 2021 is "Waterways in our Communities".
No comments:
Post a Comment