Earthhour 2009, One Billion and Beyond

[Tracey W.]

Earth hour is one of the most important events of our time. For one hour, once a year, millions of people around the globe, including whole cities and corporations will turn off their lights. This may seem small, but the impact is amazing. Last year alone, that one hour saved an astounding amount of energy. For instance, Toronto reportedly saved 900 megawatts of electricity which roughly equates to 556 tons of CO2 emissions.

The first Earth Hour occurred in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million people, including whole businesses turned off their lights. The phenomenon of Earth Hour spread in 2008 to become a global event, one which I was proud to be a part of. Notable participants were the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, The Coke sign in Times Square, the Coliseum in Rome and the Sydney Opera House. In 2008, the global total was 50 million participants! In 2009 the goal is 1 billion people.

This year, each light that goes out will be counted as a vote for Earth. The results will be presented to the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen - a meeting to determine official policies regarding global warming that will eventually replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Almost 1000 cities around the globe, including our own Washington DC, have signed up for Earthhour already. But the U.S. is way behind with only 44 cities and towns signed up, while the current leader, Australia, has 144 cities and towns committed to this cause. Many other Countries are coming in close behind with France at 137, Canada at 96, Italy at 77, and Denmark at 58.

Let’s make this the best Earthhour ever. Let’s make that billion mark and beyond! Cast your vote for Earth by shutting off your lights for just one hour beginning at 8:30P.M. local time. Talk to your employers, talk to your civic leaders. One hour on March 28, 2009 can make a huge statement about climate change.

Have you stopped to imagine what that would look like from space? As each time zone turns off its lights in sequence, there will be a band of darkness circling the Earth. That’s an amazing thought isn’t it?

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour#Energy_saved
http://www.earthhour.org/about/
http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=18561.0&dlv_id=19321





Earth Hour 2009 by WWF - Sign up for Earth Hour!

[Ricky J. Fico]

Thanks for this important reminder, Tracey!