Earth Hour 2009 is just around the corner and it is an important day for you to voice your opinion and show what you stand for. If you are not familiar with Earth Hour, here is a brief history on the event: Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.
In 2007, over 2.2 million households and businesses participated in the first ever Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia. Then in 2008, over 35 countries around the world participated as official flagship cities and over 400 cities also supported. Earth Hour 2008 was a major success, celebrated on all seven continents. According to a Zogby International online survey 36 million people participated in Earth Hour 2008. The survey also showed there was a 4 percentage point increase in awareness of environmental issues such as climate change, directly after the event.
The way Earth Hour works, is you shut off your non-essential lights and electrical appliances in your home or business for one hour on March 28 at 8:30pm (your local time). The effect will not be noticeable except via satellite, as the night falls across the face of the earth, lights will be switching off and visually casting their vote to take action on climate change and stop global warming. For more information on Earth Hour, check out their website at http://www.earthhourus.org
References: Wikipedia