On Saturday, March 29, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, you will see some of the world’s most famous landmarks go dark or dim. Among them:
- The Empire State Building in New York
- The Opera House in Sydney
- The Eiffel Tower in Paris
- The Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt
- The London Eye Ferris wheel
- The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
- Even Las Vegas, where bright colorful lights illuminate the entire strip all night long
The lights are going out for Earth Hour 2009. Organized by the World Wildlife Fund, more than 2000 cities and millions of people are expected to turn off the lights in order to raise awareness of global climate change.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.
Everyone is welcome to participate. Actually it might be a fun time to teach kids the importance of saving energy and resources.