Thousands of Cities Go Dark to Fight Climate Change

More than 7,000 cities across 172 countries will switch off electric powered lights and non-essential electronics for Earth Hour on Saturday night to raise awareness for global climate action.

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At 8:30 p.m. local time, people are encouraged to go without lights for an hour. So far landmarks that have gone without power include Sydney’s iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Skyscrapers in Shanghai's downtown.

When the time comes, London’s Big Ben, Paris Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramid of Giza In Egypt and the Empire State Building in New York will go dark.

Earth Hour aims to raise awareness of human activity that contributes to climate change while showing that action can become a part of people’s daily routines, to cut down power consumption and in turn greenhouse gasses. 

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the of the event which started off as an initiative in Australia through the World Wildlife Fund, which says that up to one in four Australians partake in the now global event, believed to be the single biggest public action for the environment.

As part of the 10 year anniversary, WWF Australia launched this year’s campaign with 10-year-old children, asking them of their environmental concerns in a push to further educate future generations about the importance of climate action. 

“Education is vital, we need to provide our next generations with relevant and engaging information about how our world works and what we risk with ‘business as usual,’” said Jason Kimberley from Cool Australia, an education partner with WFF.

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“I think one of the reasons Earth Hour has blown up like this is that it's a relatively simple task that everyone can participate in. It creates a sense of community. When people across the world participate in the same event, it sends the message that we're all in it together," Immo Fischer, from WWF Germany, told Deutsche Welle.

While some see the initiative as a public relations demonstration, the WWF says that Earth Hour has actually influenced a number of important environmental policies around the world, including a ban on plastic in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, brought solar power to Indian families, and declaring a large marine park of Argentina.