The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Sports

    Offense erupts in Caps' victory

  • National

    KUHNHENN: 10% jobless rate is Obama's troubling world

  • World

    Joint forces probe NATO air strike

  • National

    Fla. shooting suspect 'mentally ill'

  • Business

    Parents buying homes for kids at college

  • Politics

    Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint

  • National

    Sunshine vitamin stirs new debate

Home » News » Latest Headlines

Sunday, March 29, 2009

World dims for Earth Hour

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

Across globe, monuments and marquees go dark for a cause

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos
Please stand by, images loading!
  • GETTY IMAGES
A group of people picnic by candlelight as Earth Hour approaches the harbor in Sydney, Australia, Saturday night. Earth Hour was observed from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., local time, in more than 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries to highlight climate change.
  • ASSOCIATED PRESS
A night view of the Pyramids of Giza is captured just as the lights were switched off in observance of Earth Hour in Cairo. Egypt's Sphinx also went dark.
  • AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
An acrobat performs with fire outside the darkened National Theatre in central Sofia, Bulgaria, as cities, nations and corporations turned off their lights for an hour in a statement of concern over climate change.

More Latest Headlines Stories

  • Gulf Coast under hurricane watch
  • Fort Hood killings evoke bad memory
  • Sunshine vitamin stirs new debate
  • Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint

By Vanessa Gera ASSOCIATED PRESS

BONN, Germany | From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt to the Empire State Building in New York, the world switched off the lights Saturday for the second Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight what is seen as 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.

An agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, is supposed to be reached in Copenhagen this December, and environmentalists' sense of urgency has spurred interest in this year's Earth Hour. The campaign began in Australia in 2007 and last year grew to 400 cities worldwide.

Organizers initially worried that enthusiasm this year would wane with the world focused on the global economic crisis, Earth Hour Executive Director Andy Ridley said. But he said it apparently had the opposite effect.

The Chatham Islands, a small chain about 500 miles east of New Zealand, switched off diesel generators to officially begin Earth Hour. Soon after, the lights of Auckland's Sky Tower, the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand, blinked off.

And in Egypt, the Great Pyramids darkened, as did the Sphinx.

In Europe, Paris darkened more than 200 monuments and buildings, including the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral. The Eiffel Tower extinguished its lights for only five minutes, for security reasons, because visitors were on the tower, said WWF France spokesman Pierre Chasseray. But a nightly sparkling lights feature was canceled.

More than 200 buildings pledged to flip the switch in Chicago, one of Earth Hour's 10 flagship U.S. cities. The shops along the city's Magnificent Mile were all set to go dark, along with the ivy-covered marquee at the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field.

In San Francisco, lights on landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge were set to be turned off, along with the city's well-known Ghirardelli Square sign. Officials decided to turn down the Las Vegas Strip's glitz by extinguishing the marquees and decorative lighting outside casinos, as well as the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

The honkytonks in Nashville were set to darken as country music stars Jo Dee Messina and "Big" Kenny Alphin of the duo Big & Rich entertained a crowd with a free concert.

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.

Earth Hour 2009 also has garnered support from global corporations. McDonald's Corp. planned to dim its arches at 500 locations around the U.S. Midwest. The Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont hotel chains and Coca-Cola Co. also planned to participate.

[Get Copyright Permissions] Click here for reprint permissions!
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Please login or register to post a comment

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Sniper's ex-wife speaks out on abuse
  3. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  4. Inside the Beltway
  5. Armored troop carriers called unsafe for duty
More Top Stories »
  1. 13 killed at Texas army base; psychiatrist accused
  2. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
  3. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  4. Parents buying homes for kids at college
  5. Can the 10th Amendment save us?

Most Shared

  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. Parents buying homes for kids at college
  3. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  4. Sunshine vitamin stirs new debate
  5. Aborted fetus cells used in beauty creams
More Top Stories »
  1. Making fun of faith
  2. NSA surveillance -- of you?
  3. Israelis unsure of U.S. support
  4. Looking to 2010, GOP focuses on fiscal restraint
  5. EDITORIAL: The grass roots keep growing

Most Commented

  1. Army: Suspect said 'Allahu Akbar!' before shooting
  2. Muslims stunned by Fort Hood shooting
  3. House OKs health reform bill
  4. Furious scramble for health reform support
  5. 'Gentle' Army psychiatrist displayed worrisome signs
More Top Stories »
  1. EXCLUSIVE: Rare virus poses new threat to troops
  2. EDITORIAL: Too scared to recognize terrorism
  3. Obama praises those who ended Fort Hood violence
  4. PRUDEN: Corpse sits up, gets nice salute
  5. House majority leader warns of health bill delays

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Question of the day

Do you think the health reform bill will pass?

Blogs & Columns

  • POTUS Notes

    New Dem talking point on Obama approval doesn't wash

  • The Back Story

    12 arrested at Pelosi's office

  • Belief Blog

    Washington goes Greek this week

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Redskins 360

    He Said, She Said Week 9

  • Tara's Two Cents

    On their way to summer vacation..

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.