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Written by Jeremy Lovell and Eric Auchard
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Sunday, 30 March 2008 |
People switched off lights around the world on Saturday, dimming buildings,
hotels and restaurants to show concern with global warming.
Up to 30 million people were expected to have switched off their lights for 60
minutes by the time "Earth Hour" -- which started in Suva in Fiji and
Christchurch in New Zealand -- has completed its cycle westward.
More than 380 towns and cities and 3,500 businesses in 35 countries signed up
for the campaign that is in its second year after it began in 2007 in Sydney
alone.
"Earth Hour shows that everyday people are prepared to pull together to find a
solution to climate change. It can be done," said James Leape of WWF
International which was running the campaign.
Lights at Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge were switched off and
Australians held candle-lit beach parties, played poker by candlelight and
floated candles down rivers.
In Bangkok some of the city's business districts, shopping malls and billboards
went dark, although street lights stayed on. One major hotel invited guests to
dine by candle light and reported brisk business.
In Copenhagen, the Tivoli and the Royal Palace and the opera darkened for an
hour, along with many street lights.
"In the central square a lot of people were standing looking at the stars," said
Ida Thuesen, spokeswoman for WWF Denmark. "It's not often you can see the stars
in a city."
In a tip of its virtual hat to the event, the background of Google's home page
turned to black from white on more than a dozen country sites including
Google.com. A message on the site read: "We've turned the lights out. Now it's
your turn."
Floodlights went out at landmarks in Budapest, including its castle, cathedral
and parliament.
In Britain, 26 town and city councils signed up to switch off nonessential
lights as did several historic buildings including Prince Charles' private
residence Highgrove House, London City Hall, Winchester Cathedral and the
Government Communication Headquarters radio monitoring station. The south coast
town of Brighton turned off the lights on its pier.
The movement crossed the Atlantic to the United States and Canada, where the
553-metre (1,815 ft) CN Tower in Toronto and the surrounding skyline were
plunged into temporary darkness.
In Toronto's trendy Queen West neighborhood, many restaurants offered
candlelight dining. The golden arches at a corner McDonalds were dark, though
the fast-food restaurant itself was brightly lit.
Closer to downtown, news helicopters swooped low over city streets, where banks
had switched off the neon signs atop their skyscrapers. "I would have expected
fewer helicopters during earth hour," said one disgruntled spectator.
San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Chicago's Sears Tower and Soldier Field
football stadium were slated to take part in the closing hours of Saturday's
global event.
Buildings account for about one-third of the carbon emissions that scientists
say will boost global average temperatures by between 1.4 and 4.0 degrees
Celsius this century bringing floods and famines and putting millions of lives
at risk.
Organizers of Earth Hour said that while switching off a light for one hour
would have little impact on carbon emissions, the fact that so many people were
taking part showed how much interest and concern at the climate crisis had taken
hold.
Source: Reuters
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
