What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour, run by WWF, the conservation organization, is a global climate change initiative which calls on individuals and businesses around the world, to turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday March 29 2008 between 8 pm and 9pm.

The aim of the campaign is to express that individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better.

The event itself will clearly demonstrate in participating cities, the connection between energy usage and climate change, showing that we as broader community can address the biggest threat our planet has ever faced.

Why do we need to act?

Global warming is one of the greatest threats the world has ever faced. Our continued reliance on electricity sourced from coal-fired power stations is causing a dramatic increase in the Earth’s temperature, resulting in rising sea levels, an increase in drought and severe storms, and massive changes to the environment we all rely on to survive.

For example, 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.

Where is Earth Hour taking place?

In 2008 Earth Hour will be taking place in over 20 cities around the world, and the list keeps growing. We always hoped that Earth Hour would grow into this global campaign. To start this process we focused on one of Australia’s, and the world’s iconic cities, Sydney. Thanks to the support of Earth Hour in 2007 we’ve now asked other cities, both in Australia and internationally, to join us in supporting Earth Hour. Of course, we can all take small actions everyday like turning off unnecessary lighting to reduce our emissions. And we would be delighted if you can join us by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, regardless of where you live.

What about after the event? What can I do then?

We all can take action everyday to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. There are two key objectives for Earth Hour. The first is to engage as many households, communities and business to turn their lights for one hour on March 29.

By creating awareness and securing engagement of the broader community, the second objective is to measure the change in our greenhouse gas emissions over the following 12 months – aiming for a reduction in the year following Earth Hour.

Excerpt from earthhour.org