Earth Hour 2021: Raising Awareness About Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss

A Global Awareness Campaign

Earth Hour is a WWF initiative which aims to raise awareness about climate change, a phenomenon that is increasingly visible in our society. The global awareness campaign invites individuals, governments, and corporations to turn off the lights at a certain hour in their bid to also raise awareness about the loss of biodiversity. This year, a long-standing and increasingly important effort to combat these problems will be celebrated once again.

Celebrated Every Last Saturday of March

Earth Hour is celebrated on the last Saturday of March every year all over the world. In the United States, the lights will go out at 20:30 local time and end one hour later, at 21:30 local time. The first Earth Hour event was held in Sydney on March 31, 2007. This initiative was born as a symbolic gesture to draw attention to the problem of climate change, and seeing the results it had in the Australian city. Then, it was incorporated into the agenda of thousands of cities in nearly 200 countries.

The Importance of Turning Off Lights and Electrical Appliances

Households, businesses and institutions turn off lights and other non-essential electrical appliances for one hour in a whole-house power blackout. This small gesture can have a huge impact by saving energy consumption and reducing carbon emissions. Last year, lights at more than 17,000 monuments and buildings as emblematic as the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum, Times Square, the Empire State Building, and the Sagrada Familia were turned off.

An Urgent Call to Action

Earth Hour is not just about turning off lights for one hour, but it is an urgent call to action. We need to take care of our planet, which is our only home. Climate change and biodiversity loss are real, and we need to take action now to secure a sustainable future for our planet and future generations. Small gestures like turning off the lights can bring awareness to these important issues and spark a larger conversation about how we can all do our part to protect our planet.

Credit: https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/03/25/641f0fc622601df61b8b459a.html

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