Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) scheduled annually for the last Saturday of March. Households and businesses are asked to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.
Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney’s lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008. Earth Hour 2011 will take place on March 26, 2011 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at participants’ respective local time.
In Chicago The Merchandise Mart, Willis Tower, the Wrigley Building, the Chicago Theater, Wrigley Field, the Trump International Hotel and Towers, and Navy Pier will be dark.
YouTube honors the hour by changing its logo for the day.
Earth Day is scheduled on April 22, and is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970. While this first Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.
See also …
WWF — World Wide Fund for Nature — wwf.panda.org
Sydney Morning Herald Bravely enter the night for future of our planet