My Dark Sky

It’s the time to switch off your lights for Earth Hour again…

Last year, Earth Hour was quite quiet in Malaysia… I switched off my light as planned, and since I couldn’t do anything much, I went to sleep. And the next thing I know is the Sun rising! So it’s a huge success to me – I’ve not only switched off the light and fan (yes, I slept through the night without the fan!) for 1 hour, but for a whole solid 11 hours.

This year, Earth Hour is no longer quiet in Malaysia – everyone is on high gear! It is not just the individuals, but the government and big companies are also taking part. Our Prime Minister has shown his support and endorsement of Malaysia’s participation. Landmarks such as KLCC, KL Tower, Sunway Resort, Penang Bridge, hotels in Penang and many more will be switching off their lights to support this event.

And just look at all the resources and publicities: we have our own dedicated Malaysia – EarthHour website, facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, media, and blogs (like mine). Judging from the tens of email regarding Earth Hour sent to my inbox, everyone is aware and is very excited about this event.

So, what is this Earth Hour?

Basically, this event is very simple, just

Turn off your lights for 1 hour on Saturday March 28, 2009
from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Reason? To convey support for action on climate change. “Your Light Switch is Your Vote” – switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. You choose.

Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr Andy Ridley, says, “Earth Hour is an opportunity for the global community to speak in one voice on the issue of climate change, while at the same time coming together in celebration of the one thing every single person on the planet has in common – the planet.”

Now, I know someone may ask what can we achieve by just turning off the lights for one hour? Ya, 1 hour only, what can we achieve when the rest of the 8759 hours in the year we just don’t care?

And that’s exactly the point – we want to raise awareness to all humans on Earth that don’t be “don’t care”. It lets us pause and think what we can do to protect the Earth. We, individually, are just one person, but we can still do our small part to fight global warming – save energy, save electricity, save water, save paper, save earth resources…

And together let us show our support that we care about our living planet!

Sign up now for Earth Hour 2009.

~ by thChieh on March 25, 2009.

Posted in Astronomy Activities
Tags: Earth Hour