From Sydney to Las Vegas, world to go dark for Earth Hour
27.03.2010 14:31

Ruzan Khachatryan
`Radiolur’

Global landmarks from Sydney’s Opera House to the glittering Las Vegas
Strip, will be plunged into darkness on Saturday for the `Earth Hour’
starting from 8:30 p.m. Yerevan time.

The Armenian Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Yerevan City
Hall, the HSBC-Aremnia Bank, the Congress Hotel, a number of
organizations, as well as the UN Yerevan Office will join the action.

The United Nations will observe `Earth Hour’ at its Headquarters in
New York and other facilities around the world to show its continuing
commitment to action on climate change.

`As we watch the lights go out from continent to continent, let us
reflect on the fragility and importance of our natural heritage and
pledge to protect it for a sustainable future for all, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

`By switching off non-essential lights for an hour, people will join a
symbolic display that can inspire the change we so urgently need,’ he
said.

Hundreds of millions of homes, in scores of cities scattered around
125 countries will also join the great Earth Hour switch-off.

Iconic structures like the Empire State Building and Egypt’s pyramids,
Sydney’s Harbor Bridge, the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, the Eiffel
Tower in Paris, the Buckingham Palace in London, the Roman Coliseum
will be plunged into darkness for an hour.

Beijing’s Forbidden City and Bird’s Nest Stadium will also go dark
along with dozens of cities in China, the world’s biggest carbon
polluter.

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.

More than one billion people in about 6,000 cities around the globe
are expected to participate in the action this year.