Marches for Science Hit Cities Around the World

Tens of thousands of scientists, students, and research advocates rallied from the Brandenburg Gate to the Washington Monument on Earth Day, conveying a global message of scientific freedom without political interference and spending necessary to make future breakthroughs possible, the AP reports. "We didn't choose to be in this battle, but it has come to the point where we have to fight because the stakes are too great," said climate scientist Michael Mann. Thousands of marchers rallied in Washington DC. They were joined by hundreds in places like Gainesville and Nashville. Rallies and marches were set for more than 500 cities.

Lara Stephens-Brown joined thousands marching in St. Paul, the AP reports. They chanted "hey hey, ho ho, we won't let this planet go." There are cancer survivors and doctors with signs that say "science saves lives," she said. "Science is not a partisan issue," she said. "Science is for everyone, and should be supported by everyone in our government." Kathryn Oakes Hall pinned a sign to the back of her T-shirt as she made her way to the march in Santa Fe, New Mexico: "Nine months pregnant, so mad I'm here." "I'd rather be sitting on the couch," she said. But she marched anyway because she worried about her baby's future in a world that seems to consider science disposable. (More Earth Day stories.)