Earth Hour! A symbolic act to demand action on the climate crisis

I received an email forward yesterday. When I was about to dismiss it like any other forward, Aamir Khan's determined face against a black background caught my attention. Thanks to the person who sent this and let me know about this initiative.

Earth Hour is World Wildlife Fund's global initiative where individuals, businesses and governments turn off their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change. Earth Hour is a symbolic event designed to engage people from all walks of life in the climate change discussion to send a strong message to our political leaders that we want them to take meaningful action on climate change. The largest climate event in history where millions of people around the world will unite by turning off their lights for one hour, Earth Hour, to demand action on the climate crisis.
(Text courtesy: www.earthhour.in)

Started in 2007, the symbolic 'lights out' initiative is to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change, by observing one hour of 'no light' the last Saturday of March every year. Many people look down on such symbolic acts of solidarity. But they are indeed quite powerful and do have a way of triggering changes.

In 2008, Earth Hour reached out to more than 400 cities with 50 million adults participating in the initiative. Major icons went dark including the Sydney Opera House, Rome's Colosseum, and Antarctica's Scott Station. This year, Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, 28 March 2009 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, local time and aims to reach out to 1 billion people across 1000 cities. It is happening in India this year for the first time. It's essentially not a black-out and of course you can watch television or work on your computers during the time. But don't forget to flip the switch! For more information, please look up here.