Many cities in the world will go dark during Earth Hour this year.
A multitude of public and private buildings in many cities of the world will douse their lights for Earth Hour taking place on March 26 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm in a campaign to bring awareness of the need to halt global warming.
Earth Hour begins in the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand, the first major country from the international date line, to begin the wave of lights-off events around the globe, through Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Earth Hour had its beginnings in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses were reported to have switched off their lights for one hour.
Since then, more than 50 million people worldwide have switched off their lights during Earth Hour and global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome, the Coca Cola billboard in New York's Times Square and, of course, Sydney Opera House plunged into darkness.
Earth Hour is on March 26 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, your time.
Publicity stunts have their place, but if you’re really concerned about the production of greenhouse gases – why travel? You’ll need lights, food, and shelter wherever you live, but travel increases your use of (mostly non-renewable) fuels.
You’d better switch off your lights for a lot longer than an hour to cover your next big trip.