Global warming lights out tomorrow morning!!! *8:30PM local time, wherever you live on planet earth. Saturday 28 March 2009*
Lights out in 84 countries for Earth Hour 2009 By CARYN ROUSSEAU, AP CHICAGO — The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour. ... . . the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change. "Earth Hour makes a powerful statement that the world is going to solve this problem," said Carter Roberts, CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour. "Everyone is realizing the enormous effect that climate change will have on them." Seven times more municipalities have signed on since last year which drew participation from 400 cities after Sydney, Australia held a solo event in 2007. Interest has spiked ahead of planned negotiations on a new global warming treaty in Copenhagen, Denmark this December. U.N. Secretary-General encouraged the convention to reach a fair and effective climate change agreement and promoted Earth Hour participation in a video. http://sn.im/enqwn "Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message," Ban said. "They want action on climate change." Other videos have been posted; WWF has offered Earth Hour iPhone applications. Yahoo! says there's been a 344 percent increase in "Earth Hour" searches this February and March compared with last year. New studies increasingly highlight the ongoing effects of climate change, said Richard Moss, a member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ...." The scientific research is showing in all kinds of ways that the climate crisis is worsening." Earth Hour 2009 has garnered support from global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities — including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, McDonald's Corp. The Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont hotel chains, Coca-Cola Co. . Nearly 200 U.S. cities, towns and villages have signed on, from New York City — which will darken the iconic Empire State Building and Broadway marquees — to Igiugig, population 53 on Iliamna Lake in southwestern Alaska. Among the efforts in Chicago, 50,000 light bulbs at tourist hotspot Navy Pier will dim and 24 spotlights that shine on Sears Tower's twin spires will go dark. The Commonwealth Edison utility said electricity demand fell by 5 percent in Chicago and northern Illinois during last year's Earth Hour, reducing about 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. "It goes way beyond turning off the lights," said Roberts of the WWF. "The message we want people to take away is that it is within our power to solve this problem. People can take positive constructive actions." ___ On the Net: Earth Hour: http://www.earthhour.org/ Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. ~ Find out what people around the world are doing for Earth Hour and a sustainable future *http://www.earthhour.org/supporters/*<http://www.earthhour.org/supporters/> * \* ~ Be part of the Earth Hour - Make a difference! * http://www.earthhour.org/action/* <http://www.earthhour.org/action/> C40 is a group of cities committed to tackling climate change. [image: C40] <http://www.c40cities.org/> Cities have a central role to play in tackling climate change, particularly as they bear a disproportional responsibility for causing it. In fact, cities consume 75 per cent of the world's energy and produce 80 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions. As the Mayor of Toronto, “The C40 Climate Leadership Group is about cities working together to drive down greenhouse gas emissions. It's crucial that cities and the public come together to take action against climate change and Earth Hour provides a great platform to do that.” *Learn more about the C40 cities. * <http://www.earthhour.org/c40cities/>
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