World urged to use 'Earth Hour' to protect planet
March 26, 2011 by Madeleine Coorey
Earth Hour co-founder and executive director Andy Ridley. From Sydney to Seoul, London to Lima, and Dubai to Davis Station in frozen Antarctica, hundreds of millions of people are expected to switch off their lights on Saturday to mark "Earth Hour".
From Sydney to Seoul, London to Lima, and Dubai to Davis Station in frozen Antarctica, hundreds of millions of people are expected to switch off their lights on Saturday to mark "Earth Hour".
The movement that began in Sydney in 2007 to raise awareness about climate change now brings together people from around the world to turn the lights off for 60 minutes to reduce energy consumption.
"It's an hour in one day of the year," Earth Hour co-founder and executive director Andy Ridley told AFP early Saturday.
"The amount of power that's saved during that time is not really what it's about. What it is meant to be about is showing what can happen when people come together."
Ridley said 134 countries or territories were on board for the event, with many groups expected to use the hour to also pay tribute to Japan which this month suffered a 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami.
In Scotland, there will be a traditional bagpipe lament to remember the thousands killed in the disaster while a minute's silence will be observed by a group climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and another in Antarctica.
Ridley said hundreds of millions of people took part in 2010 and he was hopeful of the same response this year when landmarks such as the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Times Square New York, the London Eye and Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue go dark to mark the hour.
Designed as a symbolic act to make people aware of everyday energy use, Earth Hour has evolved into a global movement, and this year will take place from 8:30pm local time around the world.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged people to celebrate the shared quest to "protect the planet and ensure human well-being."
File pictures show the Eiffel tower during last year's "Earth Hour" event. From Sydney to Seoul, London to Lima, and Dubai to Davis Station in frozen Antarctica, hundreds of millions of people are expected to switch off their lights on Saturday to mark "Earth Hour" again this year.
"Let us use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light," he said of the event, which kicks off in the Pacific, takes in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, before rolling to Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.
"The simple and powerful idea of switching off lights for an hour to drive action on climate change began in Sydney and has been embraced around the world," said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard from Canberra's Parliament House, a landmark which will go dark from 8:30 pm (0930 GMT).
British Prime Minister David Cameron said sharing responsibility was the key to fighting climate change, describing Earth Hour as "a huge symbol of global solidarity, an inspiring display of international commitment."
Earth Hour this year will focus on connecting people online so they can inspire each other to go beyond the hour and make commitments to help protect the environment, Ridley said.
Organisers are asking people to commit to an action, large or small, that they will carry through the year to help the planet.
Ridley said he never expected the Earth Hour movement to become so large.
"We didn't imagine right at the beginning... it would be on the scale that it is now. And the fact that it is so cross cultural, beyond borders and race and religion," he said earlier this week.
(c) 2011 AFP
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Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (12)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 4 / 5 (11)
Even if you don't care about the environmental aspect of it, turn your lights off and go see the stars for a little bit. The night sky is amazing when you don't have light pollution obscuring most of it.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.5 / 5 (24)
NO.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (20)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (11)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (17)
In this case... a simulated brown-out. Whoopdedoo.
Just another useless publicity event that lets ordinary people feel better about the fact that they waste energy horribly the rest of the year. An extreme analog of ordering a diet coke with a triple bacon cheeseburger and supersized fries. If everyone involved, including the media, spent the same amount of work promoting real tips for saving energy instead of "Earth Hour," the Earth would be better off.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (9)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (11)
I am looking forward to 8:30pm this Saturday, and hope you are as well.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.7 / 5 (14)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.1 / 5 (17)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.1 / 5 (17)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.3 / 5 (7)
you got a source for this? would be interested.
if people have fun doing it then whatever, go for it. and given the environmental and health impacts of light pollution, the more the merrier.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.4 / 5 (5)
Yeah and Earth day took Arbor day's lunch money, etc, etc, etc. Energy doesn't store from the generator. When use drops drastically the energy is still produced, and then wasted.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.8 / 5 (9)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 1.9 / 5 (72)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.1 / 5 (17)
ht_delete_tp://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/03/27/earth-hour-in-north-korea-a-stunning-success/
Is that our new goal ... aspire to be North Korea?
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
The author forgot to mention the nuclear environmental disaster that will affect millions of people for many, many, many, many years to come.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.5 / 5 (11)
Sure, lets just all move into mud huts, give up all electronics, and live "naturally, the way the Earth intended us all to live."
Plus, we'll have people dying at 30 again, so it's all a win win for the environmentalists who think the Earth is an actual living breathing woman and people are all just parasites living on her body.
It's always easier to talk like this when we don't have to actually give up technology with all its pluses and minuses.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.3 / 5 (16)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (8)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.2 / 5 (16)
I think about it every time I pay the utility bill. Every time the kids leave the TV on in an empty room.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.5 / 5 (14)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (9)
Big atractions(like the eiffel tower in the picture) will probably be turned off. Then the power plants will turn down a few notches, the energy saved is very minimal. Then even before the hour the plants will need to go up a few notches. This process costs more energy than is saved in those 30-45 minutes.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (6)
I am not part of any movement and acknowledge no leader. You are welcome to differentiate your intellectual leader from eager tyrant.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 4.1 / 5 (14)
A useless gesture made by Useful Idiots (Google the phrase if you dont know what it means).
The thing is with gestures is that they dont solve anything, they are a shallow symbol to make the person doing it feel better. That you can flip a switch with one finger and I should be impressed by how much you care?
Id be impressed if you picked up litter that you did not drop, that you held a door open for someone or returned a shopping cart to the store foe an elderly person, but using one finger to flip a switch,well I got a finger for you.
I will make it a point to turn on all my lights, TVs and maybe even the radio too. It wont effect my energy bill as the frogging delivery charge is 3xs the usage charge.
So go ahead with your useless gesture while I laugh at you for being a frogging useful idiot
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 2.4 / 5 (14)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.5 / 5 (13)
It sends a wrong message.
I will turn all my lights on and go to Anti Earth Hour...this a fallacy, a diet coke on triple bacon-triple cheese burger.
Only for fairy tale believers.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.4 / 5 (15)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.1 / 5 (17)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.5 / 5 (8)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (4)
I agree with Ross not 100% but 1000%!!
http://takemetoyo...our.html
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.8 / 5 (4)
What would be really useful is something that calculates your total energy usage per day. Most likely nearly impossible but a rough estimate wouldn't hurt.
Like a regular day I have two hours on the train, 2 or so meals, 1-3 hours of computer use, labs, TV, stereo. And that is only at my end. Think of all the energy required to get those things to me and charge my laptop or grow my food. It really does add up :/.
Even if you are against global warming and the environment, a reduction in energy consumption is advantageous for everyone.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (12)
Now you're just being a little prick.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 3.4 / 5 (5)
All electronic devices inside our heated envelopes are point source 100 % efficient electrical heaters. If you turn them off, their heat must be made up by oil, gas, or baseboard heaters.
It makes us feel green. And how wonderful. Is this not all just a daydream green wash?
Recycling at the consumer level is an ecological disaster allowing cathartic, rampant conscience free consumption believing our recyclables go happily round and round. The energy cost of this merry go round cycle that includes shipping liters of beverage @ 1 Kg per liter around the globe using diesel fuel, is ecological insanity.
Turn down your thermostat. Boil only the water you need in the summer. Soak your beans. Do not heat unused spaces. It is one earth for all life, after all. Drive your car like a hybrid. Ride a bicycle. Creatively repair, and reuse, before you replace.
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (5)
Mar 26, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (67)
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (9)
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (10)
Anything you can do to warm the planet, no matter how bogus, is a good thing.
If you turned out the lights, you want the children to freeze sooner.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
This "FrankHerbert" doesn't seem to have, or to show, the grand vision of Dune et cetera.
I'm pleased to see some here with a wider and longer integrated view of ecology. Our greatest disposal expense here is shipping recyclable paper off for processing. Its receipt is mandated by the USPS. Part of Obowma's porkulous?
I wonder if our trash hauler would knowingly accept hazmat shipments of CFL components for recycling. Federal porkulous?
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (6)
For 50 years those working on fusion power said it is just around the corner.
Mainstream science ignores cold fusion in spite of continuous, interesting results. I guess we know the real motivation of many scientists.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
So, how do you think a fusion reaction works that no heat is produced? Do you smack a couple of nuclei together and collect the electrons? Who fails arithmetic is doomed.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
Technically, a small amount of energy is stored in the generator. Whenever there is overproduction in the grid, the frequency creeps up slowly, which means that all AC motors and everything that turns, including the generator itself, will turn faster and store energy like flywheels. Motors become generators when they spin faster than the grid frequency dictates, so when the load increases and the frequency starts to drop, they return the power that made them spin faster.
The problem is that if you try to deliberately load this "rotating stock" like a battery, different motors and generators react with different speeds and that causes a cascade failure where one generator drops out of phase and more power is lost from the grid, which makes other generators to drop out and fall down like dominoes. It can only withstand slow variations.
Mar 27, 2011
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Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (65)
And no the third world is not in the situation they are because they want to be. You might want to look up the "just world hypothesis." You seem to be under its spell.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (65)
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (6)
http://en.wikiped...s_energy
I'd also like to point out that the 3 posters who said "I'll waste more electricity just to spite you" sound like 12-year-olds -- and probably are, physically and/or mentally.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 2.7 / 5 (7)
If you do a little bit of research you'll see in ancient times we had 7000ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere compared to 298ppm presently and the temperature of the Earth NEVER followed any correlation with CO2 concentrations. Quite the contrary (but I have no time to explain this. If you are REALLY interested do your own research and STOP believing in Al Gore's money greedy unscientific campaign). Of course I do care about the environment -also forget about the Planet caring ads as, again they are for Useful Idiots believing they will influence anything on a planet scale. We could detonate all atomic bombs we have presently and we certainly would destroy all humankind and most of the life but a few millions late all would come back to "normal" again.) People have to have a GEOLOGICAL perspective instead of a psychological one.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (8)
That's the reason, (myself included) we write that we will turn our lights on. Because the wrong focus of the cause! We are trying to raise the attention of people about something appalling that is being thrown upon us by greedy and inesrupulous barin washing propaganda.
So, we are just saying NO for this, not for the environment.
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (6)
Is is so appealing. Imagine, the most - or at least one of the most - beautiful and stunning sceneries in the world! ...and IF! the temperature of the sea raises only 1 C we will have bleaching (which again is absolutely not proven and in fact, coral reefs are much older than mammals having been around for more than 250 million years and having faced sae temperatures higher than today's) and the GBR will die! OMG!
We HAVE to do something!
Everything is wring in this scam but the goal which is to conquer the minds and hearts of very nice people that really care about such things and bring them to the GREENS side wich finally will go to Global Warming and that sort of jazz.
OK? Did I present my case correctly?
So, now I will give just a single fact.
Everybody knows the Alpes. The Jurassic geological epoch comes from there. The mount Jura made of pure carbonate
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1.6 / 5 (7)
So what's the point?
The point is, we cannot control natural cycles and one day the Great barrier Reef can be o the top of a mountain such the Alpes or the Andes (they also have marine creatures at 500m high!)
And to give all a proper perspective, one day the Sun will become a red Giant and the Earth will simply evaporate!
This is to show very clearly that another misconcept is being put in the hearts and heads of everyone: SUSTAINABILITY.
Nothing is sustainable forever in nature. In the long run systems evolve and transform themselves into something else.
So, stop being Useful Idiots (Today, it refers to brainwashed liberals and leftists the world over usually college students that aren't necessarily idiots, but just misinformed, naive, and ignorant of facts due to being indoctrinated with liberal/socialist propaganda through their public education)
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 2.3 / 5 (6)
I tuned on every light including the heat(It was a little chilly) Threw some cherry logs in the fireplace (They burn beautifully sort of like the Christmas fire place they show on TV) We ran to the supermarket in my Hummer for some Ice cream, chips and beer, ordered 6 extra large supreme Pizzas. started the Earth hour party around my pool and hot tube. Then the neighbor informed me we had to turn off all the lights and music off, And contemplate saving energy and the world from CO2.
What a bummer I got it back wards. To make up for it next year I will fly my whole family down to Sydney Australia to celebrate Earth hour there and watch the light's turned off on the bridge and opera house(Cool)Then party, maybe Al Gore would jet down with me?. Any good beer in Australia??
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (4)
That's quite cool, ted!
I forgot to add that you cannot drink beer, or Champaign of soft drinks as they liberate CO2 ion the atmosphere! You are invited to come to my house in the Gold Coast for a HUV Parade on next bloody ED
Mar 27, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Mar 28, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (5)
Apr 09, 2011
Rank: not rated yet