Earth Day at Bloomberg is a comprehensive week of celebration, learning and volunteering.

After asking employees what they wanted this year’s Earth Day theme to be, the sustainability team has focused their efforts around extremes–extreme weather, extreme living conditions, extreme environments, and extreme wildlife–plunging into the farthest and darkest corners of the earth to bring forth people, plants, and animals surviving and even thriving in extreme conditions.

Building on successful years past, the team designed a week-long plan to educate, raise awareness, and increase employee engagement. In addition to Earth Day activities hosted in New York and London, offices around the world are holding regional activities. Employees are participating in volunteer activities, hearing from speakers on the extreme theme and competing against colleagues in a scavenger hunt through Bloomberg News archives.

Additionally, the New York office featured an interactive art installation last week by Manuel Mansylla who brings environmental issues to life through multi-sensory exhibits. A large-scale installation on the main floor immersed employees and guests in extreme experiences through the use of wall-size screens, sounds, smells, and even temperatures.

To learn more about Bloomberg’s sustainability program visit: www.bloomberg.com/bsustainable.

Lee Ballin is with Bloomberg’s sustainability team

Kelvin Ma is a photographer for the Bloomberg Photo Service. He was stationed about 50 feet from the finish line at the Boston Marathon as the explosions occurred. Ma took the photo of wheelchair-bound Jeff Bauman moments after he looked into the eyes of the man who tried to kill him.  Bauman’s written words, “bag, saw the guy, looked right at me,” helped identify who perpetrated one of the highest-profile acts of terror in the U.S. since September 11, 2001.

Kelvin shares his experience below in an edited blog post:

What happened on Monday is not something you mentally prepare for.

The first blast occurred less than a minute after I had photographed a Tufts runner crossing the finish. There was some confusion as to what had happened. I thought it was a cannon, much like we hear every Fourth of July at the Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade. No one seemed quite sure what had happened.

Then the second blast went off, farther down Boylston Street. Pandemonium erupted as spectators knocked over the crowd-control barriers and scattered.

I made a few pictures of the injured emerging from the smoke on wheelchairs. I couldn’t see much through the haze, so I ran up the photo bridge, suspended above the finish line, to get a better view.

At heart, I am a photojournalist, having worked for newspapers and wire services for the better part of the last 10 years. We often ask ourselves how we would react in a tough situation, because invariably, we end up covering fires, shootings and other tragedies. This was different, though, and I had no idea what I would see from the top of the bridge.

Right away I knew it was bad. I saw people with horrendous injuries, one in particular that was difficult for me to look at, or photograph. The man, later identified as Jeff Bauman, had lost both legs below the knee and was being carted away on a wheelchair as the now well-known peace activist Carlos Arredondo sprinted beside him, applying tourniquets to both limbs.

The response from emergency personnel and bystanders was impressive, a description that even now seems meager, given what they did. Those who ran toward the blast scene, without giving thought to their own safety, easily outnumbered the victims, three to one.

Every single one of those people is my hero.

We were evacuated off the bridge shortly thereafter, at which point I texted my mom that I was OK and sent out a two-word Tweet—“I’m OK.”—for everyone else. I then contacted Bloomberg News, and the photo editor, Graham Morrison, encouraged me to find a place to sit down, regain my composure and transmit the images I had captured. I was running on pure adrenaline and had no idea what to do, but Morrison’s reassurance and counseling through all of the trauma and chaos helped me stay grounded in the situation.

After securing an internet connection in the Prudential Center, I pushed my photos to the wire. I sent more emails and made more social media posts to let people know I was OK, and then headed back toward the scene, making some more photos along the way.

The outpouring of support from the photojournalism community has been incredible, whether it be from people I’ve known for years to someone I just met on Monday. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have such supportive brothers and sisters in my corner every step of the way.

I tracked down the last runner I photographed before the blast and gave her a hug. Down to a matter of seconds, it really was a miracle she was standing there unscathed. I have never been so happy to see someone I hadn’t met yet.

Around 9 p.m. Tuesday, I saw a familiar face on the New York Times website. Jeff Bauman, whose horrific injuries had kept me awake the night before, had survived and was stable in a local hospital. Learning that he had made it lifted the heavy cloud that had engulfed me. His recovery will no doubt be long and difficult, but he is still with us.

What struck me most about the horror of the situation was not the devastation and the chaos, but the fact that so many people ran toward the danger to help those in need without giving a second thought about themselves. That seems to be a recurring thread in everyone’s recollection of what happened, and it can’t be repeated enough.

As a member of the media, I will inevitably receive negative comments and criticism about the photos that I took, because some people disagree about what the public should and should not be able to see. I understand that. But as a professional witness, I don’t know how else to show not only the evil of the world, but also the compassion and humanity that ultimately overcomes it, like the actions of the first responders and volunteers who dove headfirst into the smoke to save so many lives on Monday.

Kelvin Ma, Photographer for the Bloomberg Photo Service

Yesterday afternoon Bloomberg filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from implementing flawed regulation relating to the clearing of swaps that will put our financial markets in jeopardy.

The regulation, which will go into effect June 10, 2013, requires far more upfront costs – five times the margin requirements – to trade a cleared financial swap than an identical cleared financial swap future. This will push investors of all types toward swap futures which have less regulatory requirements, less transparency, but pose much higher investor risk.

We did not come to the decision lightly. Bloomberg has worked along with market participants and our buy and sell-side clients since October 2012 to alert the CFTC to the consequences of their ruling. As well, the CFTC has failed to respond to our formal request – made by legal counsel Eugene Scalia – to change and stay the implementation of this rule, leaving us with no other option.

We are confident in the merits of our case, remain committed to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and will continue to strongly advocate in favor of transparency and stability in the global financial markets.

Statements from our outside attorneys Eugene Scalia and Mario Cuomo can be found here.

To read Dan Doctoroff’s piece on the CFTC lawsuit please click here.

Below is an open letter from Dan Doctoroff, CEO & President of Bloomberg L.P., in response to Floyd Norris’ column of April 4, 2013 entitled “Finding a Rate That’s Fairer Than Libor.”

Only a few weeks ago we wrote about how the Apple iPad has revolutionized the way in which people interact with information – and that Bloomberg has been there from the beginning.

Today we are proud to officially unveil the next version of the Bloomberg Anywhere app for iPad.  We believe the redesigned app will take accessing financial information on a mobile platform to a new level of sophistication with its enhanced navigation and added features straight from the Bloomberg Professional service.

Our latest iPad app release is yet another example of Bloomberg’s drive for innovation as we provide subscribers with leading technology they can access wherever and whenever. Bloomberg has been providing mobile access to the most trusted source of data, news and analytics for more than 20 years and continues to deliver the mobility users require in a fast-moving, global market.

By having our “user experience” design team work directly with our customers to test the app’s design elements and capabilities, and listening to subscribers’ feedback, we have developed additions that focus on three specific areas:

1)  enhanced customization and navigation, so users can easily access relevant news and market information

2)  better offline capabilities, so they can read and access important information while in-flight

3)  and added features, including Instant Bloomberg, Bloomberg Industries and enhanced charting capabilities

The tight integration and collaboration between our R&D and design teams, as well as our customers is what makes us so excited about this latest release.

We have seen – over the past three years – the number of subscribers accessing our platform on a mobile device double and more than half access the platform via multiple devices.

Bloomberg Anywhere was created with this in mind – and as the computing habits of our subscribers (current and future) evolves, we will continue to evolve alongside them to deliver the information and services they need and expect – anywhere, anytime.

For Bloomberg Professional service subscribers who want to download the new app can do so for free at the App Store.

– John Waanders, Head of Bloomberg Anywhere Mobile