Earth Hour.

[Eric]

At 8:30pm on Saturday in everyone's respective time zone, individuals all over the world will shut off their lights for an entire hour. The hour has been deemed Earth Hour. Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the event hopes to draw one billion participants. Currently, 84 countries have responded to the WWF that they will be participating. The purpose of the event is to draw awareness for energy conservation, as the WWF is concerned about global warming's impact on humans and wildlife.

"With Earth Hour, millions of people from all walks of life will demonstrate their commitment to take action on climate change," said WWF CEO Carter Roberts in a statement. "Turning off the lights is just the beginning. We're asking everyone to also make commitments to reduce their energy use during the rest of the year and to ask their elected representatives to do the right thing because we need climate legislation now."

Individuals in locations close to major world landmarks -- including Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower, The London Eye Ferris wheel, The Pyramids of Egypt- Giza, Niagara Falls, The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., The Golden Gate Bridge, The Las Vegas Strip, The Saint Louis Gateway Arch, New York City's Broadway theater signs, Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building -- will see that these locations will also go dark.

IT firms are participating this year. The BlackBerry manufacturer, Research in Motion, has launched a special website accessible through certain Blackberry devices to support the event. If you own a Blackberry Bold, Storm, Curve, Curve 8900, 8800 or a Pearl you will have access to the site, which lets you access all news, and videos relating to the event (content not available for non-Blackberry users).

Belkin International issued a memo to businesses and individuals notifying them that they could be saving more electricity by turning off more devices. "Whether the lights are on or off, standby power is using more electricity than you realize and contributing to your personal greenhouse gas emissions," the statement reads. "Standby power, also called vampire power, phantom load or leaking electricity, refers to the electric power consumed by appliances while turned off but still plugged into a power outlet."

The majority of our electricity is produced from the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal, a processes which emits carbon dioxide believed by many to be a key greenhouse gas which has been linked to global warming. Utilizing solar and wind energy would reduce emissions, but they are not currently utilized on a broad enough scale -- due to high costs.

On the long-term, individuals are urged to unplug their unused devices or turn them off, and to also replace battery-powered devices (like rechargeable razors and cordless phones) with corded alternatives. This reduces the amount of standby power needed to charge the battery and reduces the lost energy during battery charging and discharging due to power conversion inefficiencies.

The WWF is also urging small businesses to participate as well. Business owners can register their "Vote for Earth" on the Earth Hour Website, which will then list those companies as active participants. Small businesses are urged to turn off decorative lighting, and power down non-essential electrical components.

Another great way for businesses to participate is to share the event with employees and customers by placing signs in the windows and by sharing the news.

Earth Hour first debuted in 2007 as an event for Sydney, Australia. At that time, the WWF estimated two million people turned off their lights. In 2008, the event grew to 370 cities with an estimated 50 million in participation, having turned off their lights. In 2009, it has already expanded to over 84 countries and may reach one billion people.

I hope I've got some petrol for my generator, The National Lottery is on BBC1 @ 8:30.......

[sabio]

I hope I've got some petrol for my generator, The National Lottery is on BBC1 @ 8:30.......

Ha haaaa ha aha aha aha

What a wonderful idea, even if it is totally pointless. :rolleyes:

[Eric]

From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt to the Empire State Building in New York and the Sears Tower in Chicago, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday for Earth Hour, a campaign to highlight the threat of climate change.
Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries joined the event sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to dim nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The campaign began in Australia in 2007 and last year grew to 400 cities worldwide.
Organizers initially worried enthusiasm this year would wane with the world focused on the global economic crisis, said Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley. But he said it apparently had the opposite effect.
''Earth Hour has always been a positive campaign; it's always around street parties, not street protests, it's the idea of hope, not despair. And I think that's something that's been incredibly important this year because there is so much despair around,'' he said.
Crowds in Times Square watched as many of the massive billboards, including the giant Coca-Cola display, darkened. Steps away, the Majestic Theater marquee at the home of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' went dark, along with the marquees at other Broadway shows.
Mikel Rouse, 52, a composer who lives and works nearby came to watch what he called ''the center of the universe'' dim its lights.
''C'mon, is it really necessary? ... All this ridiculous advertising ... all this corporate advertising taking up all that energy seems to be a waste,'' Rouse said.
In Chicago, one of 10 U.S. Earth Hour flagship cities, a small crowd braved a cold rain to count down as Gov. Pat Quinn flipped a 4-foot-tall mock light switch that organizers had to brace against high winds. A second later, the buildings behind him went dark.
''I don't see why people shouldn't always turn off the lights,'' pondered 15-year-old Chicagoan Tyler Oria, who was among those gathered.
More than 200 buildings pledged to go dark in the city, including shops along the Magnificent Mile.
''No matter what your individual beliefs are about climate change, energy efficiency is something everyone can understand in this economic environment,'' said WWF managing director Darron Collins, who helped Chicago officials organize for the night.
The Smithsonian Castle, World Bank, National Cathedral and Howard University were among several buildings that went dark for an hour in the nation's capital.
''This was the first year that Washington, D.C., became an official Earth Hour city,'' said Leslie Aun, WWF spokeswoman.
In the Chilean capital of Santiago, lights were turned off at banks, the city's communications tower and several government buildings, including the Presidential Palace where President Michelle Bachelet hosted a dinner for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
The two leaders and dozens of guests dinned at candlelight.
In Mexico City, the city government and business owners turned off all ''nonessential'' lights at more than 100 buildings, including 31 city buildings and monuments and 17 hotels.
In San Francisco, some of the city's best-known landmarks went dark, including Coit Tower, the TransAmerica building and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Los Angeles dimmed the lights at the Griffith Observatory, the Santa Monica Ferris wheel, City Hall and other area landmarks.
A DJ led a crowd at a dimmed-down dance party outside downtown's L.A. Live entertainment complex. Organizers said nearly 1,000 people were at the event.
U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon called Earth Hour ''a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message: They want action on climate change.''
An agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, is supposed to be reached in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December, and environmentalists' sense of urgency has spurred interest in this year's Earth Hour.
In Bonn, WWF activists held a candlelit cocktail party on the eve of a U.N. climate change meeting, the first in a series of talks leading up to Copenhagen. The goal is to get an ambitions deal to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists say are dangerously warming the planet.
''People want politicians to take action and solve the problem,'' said Kim Carstensen, director of the global climate initiative for WWF, speaking in a piano bar bathed by candlelight and lounge music.
China participated for the first time, cutting the lights at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium and Water Cube, the most prominent 2008 Olympic venues. In Bangkok, the prime minister switched off the lights on Khao San Road, a haven for budget travelers packed with bars and outdoor cafes.
In Rio de Janeiro, the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue that watches over the city of 6 million was darkened, along with the beachfront of the famed Copacabana and a few other local sites.
Earth Hour organizers say there's no uniform way to measure how much energy is saved worldwide.