The initiative began in Sydney last year and has become a global event, sweeping across 35 countries this year.From 8:00 pm local time in Sydney, the energy-saving campaign will see harbourside icons such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House bathed only in moonlight, restaurant diners eat by candlelight and city skyscrapers turn off their neon signs.
Organisers hope the initiative will encourage people to be more aware of their energy usage, knowing that producing electricity pollutes the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels which are contributing to global warming.But they are also aware that it will be just a small step in solving the problem of rising temperatures around the globe."Switching the lights off for an hour is not going to make a dent in global emissions," organiser Charles Stevens, of the environmental group WWF, told AFP."But what it does do is it is a great catalyst for much bigger changes. It engages people in the processes of becoming more energy efficient."Stevens said the initiative encouraged businesses to be more careful with their electricity use while at the same time sending "a fairly powerful message to governments that people are demanding action." Some 2.2 million people participated in last year's 'Earth Hour' in Sydney, cutting the central business district's energy usage by more than 10 percent.While no cities from China or India are involved this year, Stevens said it was hoped that the movement would expand in 2009, which he said would be a particularly significant year given that it is the deadline for United Nations talks to determine future action on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol.Ridley, who began 'Earth Hour' last year while working with WWF Australia, said the initiative was about individuals and global companies joining together to own a shared problem-climate change.
"Governments and businesses are joining individuals, religious groups, schools and communities in this terrific movement that's all about making a change for the better," he said."It's staggering to see so much support from across the globe in just our second year and we're hoping that this will continue to grow year after year."Cities officially involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.
As in the days of Noah.....