Earth Hour is at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday 31st March. As in the last five years, people around the world are being encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour. This is a small symbolic act with a huge environmental message that unites millions of people around the planet.
It began in Sydney in 2007 with thousands of people switching off their lights for one hour indicating their concern about climate change. Earth Hour has since grown to encompass 135 countries, involving hundreds of millions of people in more than 5,215 cities across the globe.
Some of the ever-growing list of global icons that go dark for Earth Hour each year are the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Beijing's Forbidden City and the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza.
Earth Hour is becoming a spectacular display of global unity and an indication of what we can achieve if we all take responsibility for looking after our planet.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says," Earth Hour is the moment in which we say 'yes', Planet Earth is a home we share with a myriad of precious species. Earth Hour is a universal message of hope and action, a moment driven by the collective will of the world, for the world."
Many of our fellow creatures are going to be adversely affected by climate change and by our actions in other areas. Earth Hour is a powerful reminder that we humans are the ones who should be doing everything in our power to prevent loss of their habitat and reduction of their general well-being.
As in previous years, we are being encouraged to "go beyond the hour" in the days, weeks, months and years which lie ahead, and, motivated by our concerns as individuals and groups, do what we can for the welfare of life on earth.
As we turn the lights out, let us consider how we can breathe life into our role as Earth Citizens, and into this statement from the Earth Charter – "We must decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole Earth Community as well as our local community."
- S. Mussared
