Why do people turn on the lights for an hour today?

Every year, millions of people coordinate from more than 190 countries and territories Turn off their lights Just for an hour. The event is part of an annual tradition to raise awareness about climate change.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the 16th annual Earth Hour celebration.

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour was launched in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund and its partners in Sydney, Australia. According to the information disseminated by the organization. The non-profit organization describes Earth Hour as “the largest global movement for the environment”.

“Earth Hour aims to raise awareness and global conversations about nature conservation, the climate crisis and working together to shape a brighter future for us,” says WWF.Earth Hour website.

The Earth Hour campaign has led to other actions related to limiting climate change. For example, the WWF unit in Uganda created the first “Earth Hour Forest” in 2013. Additionally, Argentina used its 2013 Earth Hour campaign to help pass a Senate bill on the country’s 8.4 million hectares of marine protected areas. WWF.

What time is Earth Hour?

To participate, all you have to do is turn off the lights in your home time zone between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM on Saturday.

Iconic landmarks such as the Empire State Building in New York, the Space Needle in Seattle and the Willis Tower in Chicago will recognize Earth Hour with an eclipse.

How turning off ambient lights helps

According to the WWF, turning off the lights is a “symbolic” way to raise awareness about climate change.

“The Hour of Darkness takes us out of the busyness of our daily routines and allows us to reflect on the one home we all share,” the organization said in its news release. “In the face of accelerating biodiversity loss and climate change, there has never been a more crucial time to come together and take action for our collective future.”

This is reported by the Earth Hour website The planet is on its wayto reach more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, “thereby risking irreversible environmental degradation and uncertain climate change that will affect all our societies and economies”.

The organization encourages participants to use the blackout hour to “do something positive for our planet.”

This could mean reading an article or listening to a podcast about biodiversity or climate change, spending time outside to connect with nature, picking up litter in your neighborhood or sharing information about climate change with friends, family or local politicians.