Hundreds of landmarks from Paris’ Eiffel Tower to the Seattle Space Needle dimmed their lights on Saturday, as people around the world went briefly off-grid to mark Earth Hour with candlelight and barbecues.
The 60-minute annual campaign organized by the conservation group WWF encouraged citizens, communities, businesses and organizations to switch the lights off for an hour from 8:30pm to highlight the plight of planet Earth.
Now in its ninth year, Earth Hour’s goal is not to achieve measurable electricity savings, but to raise awareness of the need for sustainable energy use, and this year also to demand action to halt planet-harming climate change.
"Over 170 countries and territories confirmed their participation; more than 1,200 landmarks and close to 40 UNESCO world heritage sites," Earth Hour head Sudhanshu Sarronwala said.
This year’s message was: “Use your power to change climate change”, according to the Earth Hour website.
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