From the Las Vegas Strip to the Great Pyramids, lights were turned off across the globe for one hour on Saturday as part of Earth Hour, an event to draw attention to climate change. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries dimmed nonessential lighting in what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hoped would, “be largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted.”
At 8:30pm local time, cities including Berlin, Beijing, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Sydney and Toronto dimmed downtown lights and lighting at landmarks. Here in the United States Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C. and many others including Denver and Boulder participated.
In the nation’s capitol, the Capitol dome went dim at 8:30pm as did the Empire State Building in New York, Central Park and the George Washington Bridge. In London, Big Ben was darkened and in Australia the iconic Sydney Opera House saw its lights extinguished.
Other landmarks to go dim as part of the event included the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the Vatican, Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis, the ‘Bird’s Nest’ in China and the Las Vegas Strip. Here in Denver, lights were turned out in the Wellington Webb Building, the City and County Building, the Human Services Building on Federal Boulevard and the McNichols Building.
Acknowledging that the event will not do anything to decrease the world’s carbon footprint, the WWF likens it to other symbolic events such as the Boston Tea Party or the protests of the 1960’s. Organizers are hopeful the event will get the attention of world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark in December for a summit on climate change.
In an interview on CNN, WWF CEO Carter Roberts said, “We think we are going to have 100 million people around the world sending a message that climate change is real, and we need to take action now. The world is watching to see what America is going to do because if America acts on climate change, the world will follow.”