SYDNEY, March 28, (AFP) - The waters of Sydney Harbour plunged into darkness Saturday night, with the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge killing their lights for an hour in a global call for action on climate change.
Chatham Island, the largest of a tiny group of Pacific islands 800 kilometres (500 miles) southeast of New Zealand, unofficially began Earth Hour by switching off its diesel generators at 0645 GMT, or 8:30 pm local time.
But the 25-hour global energy-saving marathon officially began in Sydney shortly after 0930 GMT with a spectacular switch to darkness for an hour before spreading across the world.
Millions in the harbourside city appeared to observe the hour without light to mark Earth Hour, a global grassroots movement that began in Sydney two years ago, when 2.2 million people switched off their lights.
It has since grown to include 3,929 cities, villages and localities across more than 80 countries.
Some 371 landmarks will power down the world over including the Vatican, Niagara Falls, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Las Vegas casino strip, the Acropolis and Beijing's “Bird's Nest” Olympic stadium.
Hong Kong's glittering waterfront and more than 1,500 buildings were to dim their lights, including many of the city's skyscrapers such as the Bank of China Tower, HSBC's headquarters and the giant International Finance Centre 2. |
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