Landmarks around the world go dark to mark Earth Hour
By Staff
The Associated Press
Posted March 30, 2019 5:24 pm EST
Updated March 30, 2019 8:17 pm EST
2 min read
This article is more than 5 years old and some information may not be up to date.
WATCH: Landmarks including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Greece's Parthenon turned off the lights on Saturday to observe Earth Hour 2019 – Mar 30, 2019
Cities around the world marked Earth Hour on Saturday by turning off lights at 8:30 p.m. local time in a call for global action on climate change.
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Earth Hour, spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund, calls for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gases and lead to global warming. Beginning in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has spread to more than 180 countries, with tens of millions of people joining in.
The Empire State Building participated as clocks hit 8:30 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast with a dimming of the skyscrapers’ lights.
In Hong Kong, major buildings along Victoria Harbour turned off their non-essential lights and the city’s popular tourist attraction known as the Symphony of Lights was cancelled.
Commercial buildings switch off their lights in the Central district on Hong Kong Island during Earth Hour in Hong Kong, China, 30 March 2019. During the hour-long lights off moment Hong Kong joins people around the world to symbolically switch off all non-essential lights for one hour and the importance of living sustainably in a collective effort to help conserve nature.
EPA/JEROME FAVRE
Over 3,000 corporations in Hong Kong signed up for Earth Hour 2019, according to the WWF Hong Kong website. Iconic skyscrapers including the Bank of China Tower and the HSBC Building in Central, the city’s major business district, switched off their lights in response to the global movement.
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WATCH: Calgary’s small business community joins Earth Hour movement
The City of Lights also turned off the Eiffel Tower’s nightly twinkle to mark Earth Hour. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo dimmed the lights Saturday on the city’s most famous monument for an hour.
In Italy, public buildings and historical monuments in 400 cities participated in Earth Hour. Lights were also switched off at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
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Some of most emblematic architectural treasures in Spain participated, including the Alhambra palace in Granada and Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia basilica.
The ancient Parthenon temple is pictured atop the Acropolis hill during Earth Hour in Athens, Greece, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
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A composite photo shows a view of the Brandenburg Gate's Quadriga statue with its lights turned on (top) and off (bottom) to mark the Earth Hour in Berlin, Germany, 30 March 2019. Many landmark buildings across Germany switched off their lights for one hour to take part in the Earth Hour movement as a sign of their commitment to the planet. Earth Hour is an annual event in which lights are switched off in major cities around the world to draw attention to energy consumption and its environmental effects. Earth Hour is an anual even organized by the WWF- World Wide Fund for Nature. EPA/OMER MESSINGER
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A combination picture shows the townhall (Rotes Rathaus) and the Television tower before and during Earth Hour in Berlin, Germany, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
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Members of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), India take part in a candle light vigil as they observe 'Earth Hour', in Bhopal, India, 30 March 2019. This year's Earth Hour theme is 'Shining a light at Climate Action'. Earth Hour takes place worldwide at 8.30 p.m. local time and is a global call to turn off the lights for 60 minutes to raise awareness of the danger of global climatic change. The hour is observed every year on the last Saturday of March. EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA
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People gather in front of the Clock Tower that turned off its traditional lighting in Cartagena, Colombia, 24 March 2018. Colombia celebrated Earth Hour today, promoted by the international organization, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with events in 25 cities, according to official sources. Earth Hour began 12 years ago and in 2017 187 countries participated. The event aims to highlight the importance to fight global warming. EPA/RICARDO MALDONADO ROZO
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The Erasmus Bridge during Earth Hour event in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on March 24, 2018. Hundreds of landmark buildings and millions of ordinary homes were switching off their lights as the annual 'Earth Hour' moved around the globe in what was dubbed the world's largest voluntary action for the environment. Photo by Robin Utrecht/ABACAPRESS.COM
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The Sydney Harbour Bridge is seen prior to its lights being switched off for Earth Hour in Sydney,Australia, 30 March 2019. At 8:30pm Australian Eastern Time, Sydney residents turn off their lights for just one hour, as a sign of their commitment to reduce global warming. The movement is now celebrated in over 172 countries and over 7000 cities and towns worldwide. EPA/PAUL BRAVEN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
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Helsinki Cathedral pictured during the WWF's global Earth Hour environmental campaign event in Helsinki, Finland, on Saturday March 30, 2019. LEHTIKUVA / JUSSI NUKARI - FINLAND OUT. NO THIRD PARTY SALES.
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The Saint Bartholomew Church is seen after the lights were switched off for one hour to mark Earth Hour in Gyongyos, 79 kms northeast of Budapest, Hungary, 30 March 2019. Earth Hour is a world-wide environmental campaign that is observed on the last Saturday of March every year, and is a global call to turn off the lights for 60 minutes to raise awareness of the danger of global climatic change. EPA/PETER KOMKA HUNGARY OUT
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In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, the island’s tallest building, Taipei 101, joined surrounding buildings in shutting off the lights as part of the Earth Hour event.
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In coal-reliant Poland, top tourist sites also turned off their lights when local clocks hit 8:30 p.m. In the country’s capital city, Warsaw, the spired landmark Palace of Culture and Science turned off its night illumination, along with some churches and Old Town walls.
Lights were also switched off in several landmarks in the Greek capital. The Acropolis, Athens City Hall and Lycabettus Hill, towering above the Athens centre, went dark and the Parliament building joined in. However, the Athens mayor’s calls for the people to join in by turning off the lights in their houses went mostly unheeded.