earthhour, earth hour 2008, earth hour australia, earth hour sign up, what is earth hour
Lights were turned off across Australia tonight as Melbourne and other capital cities observed Earth Hour, the greenhouse awareness initiative.
Dozens of key buildings in the nation's capitals and many individuals around the country turned off their lights, including iconic Melbourne buildings such as Flinders Street Station, Federation Square and Sydney's opera house and harbour bridge
Earth Hour will be observed around the world at the stroke of 8pm, in each timezone, on March 29.
Only Christchurch in New Zealand and Fiji's Suva were ahead of Australia as the hour rolled around, and more than 30 nations are to follow.
The US cities of San Francisco, Phoenix and Canada's Vancouver will be the final population centres to mark Earth Hour, at 2pm tomorrow Australian-time.
More than 2.2 million Sydneysiders took part in the inaugural Earth Hour, but this year organisers are hoping for a massive and global participation.
"I'm putting my neck on the line but my hope is that we top 100 million people," World Wildlife Fund Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said late today.
"There's 370 cities and municipalities taking part that we know about, and many others as well, so we only need 50 cities of two million people and we'll do it.
"When Canada goes ... tomorrow our time they are estimating some 70 per cent of Canadians will be involved."
Mr Bourne also said Earth Hour, and its images of blacked-out cities, was akin to New Year's Eve as it was celebrated in the world's major cities with fireworks.
"Now we have this image of darkness, and consciousness, going around the world," he said.
"It is a message of hope and optimism ... we the citizens of the world are prepared to take action and we want to defeat climate change."
The core message of Earth Hour is for people to reduce their consumption of electricity, which is usually generated by the burning of fossil fuels.
In Victoria, Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, Eureka Towers Skydeck and the Rialto Towers will be darkened.
A public event will be held at Federation Square, with Victorian Opera, community singers and fire-twirling dancers keeping people entertained.
The Criterion Hotel in the north-central Victorian town of Tatura will host a pyjama party, with a free beer on offer for those who bring a black balloon along - a symbol of an individual's carbon footprint.
Lights turn off for Earth Hour
Switch off your home lights - Earth Hour
earthhour, earth hour 2008, earth hour australia, earth hour sign up, what is earth hour
Be a responsible Earthling and do the right thing, fellow bloggers, readers and Netizens.
What: Switch off your home lights (or wherever you are). For ONE Hour.
When: From 8pm to 9pm tonight. Saturday. 29 March 2008.
Why: In conjunction with the Earth Day Campaign to reduce energy usage and wastage. Also in conjunction with Malaysia’s own Earth Day celebration.
Those interested to be part of this global campaign can also sign up at for Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org/user/SLC6.
Earth Hour happens tonight
earthhour, earth hour 2008, earth hour australia, earth hour sign up, what is earth hour
In case you haven’t heard the news: Earth hour is on for tonight, so no matter where you live, turn out the lights from 8-9pm (in your time zone) and join the cause. Bay Area residents who participated in Lights Out SF last fall may already know the story:
It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.
With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.
Have fun in the dark!
