All lights to turn off across the Globe to mark Earth Hour

--By Sagar Satapathy, Editor-in-Chief

My friend, Rahul Bihani from Toronto, just let me know about an interesting event that is mostly unheard in India. Millions of people across the globe are going to turn off their lights for an hour to mark Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund, Sydney, Australia in 2007. This year, the Earth Hour is being observed on March 29, 2008 at 8 PM.

Although the event was limited to one city in 2007, it became a global event in 2008, with millions of people in around 200 cities in the world joining hands together to show solidarity for the cause of climate change. Sydney became the first city in the world to mark Earth Hour in 2008, as all lights went off for an hour in the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. While thousands of homes in Christchurch went dark at 8 PM today, the famous Wat Arun Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand switched off its lights at 8 PM local time.

Last year, around 2.2 million people and over 2,000 business establishments shut off lights and other appliances for an hour, resulting in a 10.2 percent reduction in carbon emissions. This year, the WWF is hoping to achieve far more percentage reduction in carbon emissions, as it has received an overwhelming response to its campaign.

While South Asian countries such as Thailand and Philippines responded positively to the Earth Hour campaign, the response was poor in India (a country of 1.3 billion people) due to lack of awareness. Major European and North American cities including San Francisco and Toronto have geared up for the occasion.

After Asia, lights were expected to go out in major European and North American cites as the clock ticks on. One of the last to participate will be San Francisco, California -- home to the soon-to-be dimmed Golden Gate Bridge.

We, Indians must rise to the occasion and show solidarity with the world to create awareness on climate change, which has threatened our existence. We can still observe "Earth Hour" in our style, as I believe it's better late than never. Let's join people across the globe to show how we care about our planet and want to play a crucial role in helping to fight climate change.