Canadians go dark with world for Earth Hour Last Updated: Saturday, March 29, 2008 | 8:10 PM ET Comments1Recommend41CBC News Canadians joined communities around the world on Saturday in turning off the lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House in Australia are seen illuminated by lights, top, and then with the lights turned off during Earth Hour on Saturday. (Mark Baker/ Associated Press) Canadians in about 150 communities including Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, were expected to turn off their lights for 60 minutes at 8 p.m. local time Saturday night.
In Toronto, much of the downtown core went dark as Mayor David Miller pulled a ceremonial switch in Nathan Phillips Square to dim the lights at City Hall shortly before the hour approached. The CN Tower and the Rogers Centre followed suit.
About 55,000 Canadians have registered, just behind the United States and ahead of Australia. But 70 per cent of Canadians polled recently said they planned to mark the hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund.
The campaign was kicked off hours earlier Saturday in New Zealand and Fiji. In Christchurch, New Zealand, more than 100 businesses and thousands of homes were plunged into darkness, computers and televisions were switched off and dinners delayed for the hour-long period.
Suva, Fiji, in the same time zone, also turned off its lights.
Those cities were soon followed by others in Australia and Asia, as Sydney's iconic Opera House and Bangkok's famous Wat Arun Buddhist temple went dark. As the clock ticked forward, Asian cities to the west followed suit.
Hours later, darkness enveloped Rome's Colosseum, Dublin's Custom House, London's City Hall and other landmarks across Europe. But other countries — including France, Germany, Spain and European Union institutions — planned nothing to mark Earth Hour.
One of the last major cities to participate will be San Francisco — home to the soon-to-be dimmed Golden Gate Bridge.
Group aims 100 million participants During the one-hour event, Sydney was noticeably darker, though it was not a complete blackout. The business district was mostly dark; organizers said 250 of the 350 commercial buildings there had pledged to shut off their lights completely, and 94 of the top 100 companies on the Australian stock exchange were also participating.
The number of participants was not immediately available, but organizers were hoping that this year's worldwide effort would eclipse last year's single-city debut, when 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 businesses in Sydney shut off lights and appliances, resulting in a 10.2 per cent reduction in local carbon emissions during that hour.
"I'm putting my neck on the line, but my hope is that we top 100 million people," Earth Hour Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said.
The effect of last year's Earth Hour was infectious. This year, 26 major world cities and more than 300 other cities and towns have signed up to participate.
The Thai branch of the WWF said the campaign in Bangkok reduced the load on the electrical system by 73.34 megawatts and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 41.6 tons.
Organizers see the event as a way to encourage the world to conserve energy. While all lights in participating cities are unlikely to be cut, it is the symbolic darkening of monuments, businesses and individual homes they are most eagerly anticipating.
Even popular internet search engine Google put its support behind Earth Hour, with a black background to its main page and the words: "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn."
多伦多华人宣传西藏真相维护祖国统一和平集会
人生何处不相逢
2008/03/29 19:30
Last Updated: Saturday, March 29, 2008 | 8:10 PM ET Comments1Recommend41CBC News
Canadians joined communities around the world on Saturday in turning off the lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House in Australia are seen illuminated by lights, top, and then with the lights turned off during Earth Hour on Saturday.
(Mark Baker/ Associated Press)
Canadians in about 150 communities including Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, were expected to turn off their lights for 60 minutes at 8 p.m. local time Saturday night.
In Toronto, much of the downtown core went dark as Mayor David Miller pulled a ceremonial switch in Nathan Phillips Square to dim the lights at City Hall shortly before the hour approached. The CN Tower and the Rogers Centre followed suit.
About 55,000 Canadians have registered, just behind the United States and ahead of Australia. But 70 per cent of Canadians polled recently said they planned to mark the hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund.
The campaign was kicked off hours earlier Saturday in New Zealand and Fiji. In Christchurch, New Zealand, more than 100 businesses and thousands of homes were plunged into darkness, computers and televisions were switched off and dinners delayed for the hour-long period.
Suva, Fiji, in the same time zone, also turned off its lights.
Those cities were soon followed by others in Australia and Asia, as Sydney's iconic Opera House and Bangkok's famous Wat Arun Buddhist temple went dark. As the clock ticked forward, Asian cities to the west followed suit.
Hours later, darkness enveloped Rome's Colosseum, Dublin's Custom House, London's City Hall and other landmarks across Europe. But other countries — including France, Germany, Spain and European Union institutions — planned nothing to mark Earth Hour.
One of the last major cities to participate will be San Francisco — home to the soon-to-be dimmed Golden Gate Bridge.
Group aims 100 million participants
During the one-hour event, Sydney was noticeably darker, though it was not a complete blackout. The business district was mostly dark; organizers said 250 of the 350 commercial buildings there had pledged to shut off their lights completely, and 94 of the top 100 companies on the Australian stock exchange were also participating.
The number of participants was not immediately available, but organizers were hoping that this year's worldwide effort would eclipse last year's single-city debut, when 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 businesses in Sydney shut off lights and appliances, resulting in a 10.2 per cent reduction in local carbon emissions during that hour.
"I'm putting my neck on the line, but my hope is that we top 100 million people," Earth Hour Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said.
The effect of last year's Earth Hour was infectious. This year, 26 major world cities and more than 300 other cities and towns have signed up to participate.
The Thai branch of the WWF said the campaign in Bangkok reduced the load on the electrical system by 73.34 megawatts and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 41.6 tons.
Organizers see the event as a way to encourage the world to conserve energy. While all lights in participating cities are unlikely to be cut, it is the symbolic darkening of monuments, businesses and individual homes they are most eagerly anticipating.
Even popular internet search engine Google put its support behind Earth Hour, with a black background to its main page and the words: "We've turned the lights out. Now it's your turn."