Lights off as ‘Earth Hour’ circles globe
Hundreds of landmark buildings and millions of ordinary homes were
switching off their lights Saturday as the annual ‘Earth Hour’ moved
around the globe in what was dubbed the world’s largest voluntary action
for the environment.
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The image shows the lights around Sydney’s Harbour and the
iconic Opera House (L) turned off to mark ‘Earth Hour.’ AFP |
Australia’s Opera House was the first of many global landmarks to go
dark as the event got under way, as hundreds of millions of people
prepared to follow suit to enhance awareness of energy use and climate
change.
Others in their turn included Beijing’s ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium that
hosted the 2008 Olympics, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the London Eye
Ferris wheel, Times Square in New York and Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer
statue.
Most were switching off their floodlighting, advertising signs and
other illuminations for an hour from 8.30 pm local time.
“The amount of power that’s saved during that time is not really what
it’s about,” Earth Hour co-founder and executive director Andy Ridley
told AFP in Sydney, where the movement began in 2007.
“What it is meant to be about is showing what can happen when people
come together.”
Ridley said a record 134 countries or territories were on board for
this year’s event, which organizers have dubbed the world’s largest
voluntary action for the environment.
Organizers this year also asked people to commit to an action, large
or small, that they will carry through the year to help the planet. For
example, Dalian city in northeastern China will spend $ 1.5 billion
planting 340 million trees and Chengdu city in the southwest will make
up to 60,000 bicycles available for public rental.
The event began in the Pacific, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia,
rolling into Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas as it followed the
descending sun. Ridley said Earth Hour, organized by global environment
group the WWF, this year would also focus on connecting people online so
they could inspire each other to make commitments to help protect the
environment.
Nearly 600,000 people had ‘liked’ Earth Hour’s official Facebook page
by the time the event began in the Asia Pacific, while hundreds of
tweets with the earthhour hashtag were appearing on Twitter every few
minutes.
In Australia, organizers said an estimated 10 million people, nearly
half the population, took part, with Sydney Harbour Bridge another of
the landmarks to go dark.
Hong Kong’s neon waterfront dimmed, while in Singapore all decorative
lights were switched off and non-critical operational lights lowered at
Changi Airport for an hour. The airport said the effort would result in
energy savings equivalent to the total amount of electricity consumed by
a four-room apartment over three months.
Reuters
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