Lights went out at tourism landmarks and homes across the globe on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event designed to highlight the threat from climate change.
From the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Houses of Parliament, lights were dimmed as part of a campaign to encourage people to cut energy use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
Organizers said the action showed millions of people wanted governments to work out a strong new U.N. deal to fight global warming by the end of 2009, even though the global economic crisis has raised worries about the costs.
"We have been dreaming of a new climate deal for a long time," Kim Carstensen, head of a global climate initiative at the conservation group WWF, said in a candle-lit bar in the German city of Bonn, which hosts U.N. climate talks between March 29 and April 8.
"Now we're no longer so alone with our dream. We're sharing it with all these people switching off their lights," he said.
The UN Climate Panel says greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and will lead to more floods, droughts, heatwaves, rising sea levels and animal and plant extinctions.
World emissions have risen by about 70 percent since the 1970s.
Australia first held Earth Hour in 2007 and it went global in 2008, attracting 50 million people, organizers say. WWF, which started the event, is hoping one billion people from nearly 90 countries will take part.
2009年「地球一小時」活動於上周六舉行，當晚，世界各地的旅遊標誌性建築和家家戶戶紛紛熄燈響應該活動。「地球一小時」是一項全球範圍的活動，旨在讓人們意識到氣候變化的威脅。
作為號召人們節能減排努力的一部分，當晚，從雪梨歌劇院、海港大橋到巴黎的艾菲爾鐵塔和倫敦的英國國會大廈，熄燈行動在全球接力。
活動主辦方稱，這一行動表明很多人希望到今年年底政府能合作制訂一個強有力的、應對全球變暖的聯合國新章程——儘管全球經濟危機加劇了有關成本的擔憂。
自然保護組織世界自然基金會(WWF)全球氣候項目的負責人Kim Carstensen在德國波恩市的一個用蠟燭照明的酒吧裡接受採訪。他說：「我們期盼出臺應對氣候變化的新協議已經很久了。」 聯合國氣候變化峰會於本月29日至下月8日在德國波恩舉行。
他說：「現在我們不再是一個人戰鬥。所有響應地球一小時活動的人和我們有著同一個夢想。」
聯合國氣候變化工作小組稱，溫室氣體排放造成地球溫度升高，並會導致洪澇、乾旱、酷暑、海平面升高以及動植物滅絕等一系列生態問題。
自上世紀70年代以來，全球溫室氣體排放量增長了約70%。
據活動主辦方介紹，「地球一小時」於2007年率先在澳大利亞舉行，2008年發展為一項全球性的活動，當年共吸引了5千萬人參加。該活動由世界自然基金會發起，目標是全球近90個國家的10億人能參與「地球一小時」活動。