MILLIONS DIM LIGHTS FOR EARTH HOUR
SYDNEY: One minute brightly lit, the next plunged into darkness — iconic landmarks around the world cut their lights Saturday for the “Earth Hour” campaign against climate change.
Hundreds of millions of people across the globe turned off their lights for 60 minutes on Saturday night in a symbolic show of support for the planet.
Many of the world’s most iconic attractions, including Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower took part.
“What started as an event in Sydney in 2007 with two million people has now become a tradition across the country and across the world,” Dermot O’Gorman, head of WWF- Australia, said.
“It’s now an organic, peoplepowered movement . . . which is fantastic.”
Last year, more than 150 countries participated in the event which saw some of the world’s most iconic landmarks dim, and this year the movement has spread to Palestine, Tunisia, Suriname and Rwanda.
Newcomers to be plunged into darkness include Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid, the statue of David in Florence and Cape Town’s Table Mountain.
In Australia, where Earth Hour originated with an appeal to people and businesses to turn off their lights for an hour to raise awareness about carbon pollution, the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge will be among the first sites to participate globally.
This year, Earth Hour Australia is asking participants to “switch off for good” and move to renewable energy. As part of the push, Sydney Opera House glowed a deep green.
With restaurant diners eating by candlelight, Outback communities going dark and iconic buildings standing in shadows, O’Gorman believes Earth Hour has played a part in drawing attention to energy use.
“We’ve always heard anecdotally that it has made people change their actions and look at their impact on the planet in a more considered way,” he said.
“Earth Hour has always been about empowering people to realize that everybody has the power to change the world in which they live, and thousands of people switching to renewable energy is a perfect example.”
Sydney’s lights out was followed by countries across the globe, with the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, and the Burj Khalifa all participating.