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Earth Hour 2013   Earth Hour 2013 observed across the all over the globe on Saturday (23 March, 2013) in a bid to campaign against climate change. Earth Hour is an event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Hundreds of millions of people worldwide turn off the lights on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Lights are switched off in many of the world's important landmarks including the Empire State Building in the United States, the Effiel Tower in Paris and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.   Earth Hour originated in Australia so as to raise awareness about carbon pollution. This year's Earth Hour Australia has asked the people to move to renewable energy. Unlike in the past, the lights at the Sydney Opera House will not be turned off. Instead, it will glow a deep green.    India joined the Earth Hour movement in 2009, when five million people across 56 cities turned off the lights and saved about 1000 MW of power in that one hour. In 2011, a record number of 130 India cities switched off the lights and committed to a low carbon lifestyle, according to Earth Hour's official website.    More than 150 Indian cities participated in the Earth Hour on Saturday, joining over 7,000 of their counterparts across the world in raising awareness about climate change and its impact. Prominent stars, celebrities, sportspersons, national leaders have also pledged their support to Earth Hour. The list includes Bollwood actors Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, world boxing champion Mary Kom, former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, Telugu actor Shruti Hassan, Tamil actor Jiiva, Bengali actor Parambrata, Chief Minister of New Delhi, Sheila Dixit; and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh.   Earth Hour 2012  The UN observed the Earth Hour on March Saturday, the 31st March 2012 by turning off the lights for one hour from 8.30 PM to 9.30 PM local time at its facilities around the world. The world body, headquartered in New York,  joined scores of other landmarks around the globe that are participating in the Earth Hour event.    "There is no better way to raise awareness for the future of the most beautiful planet in the universe," said Andre Kuipers, an astronaut who will share photos and live commentary as he views Earth Hour from space. A total of 5,251 cities took part in 2011, as the movement reached 1.8 billion people in 135 countries, they say. "Earth Hour 2012 is a celebration of people power -- the world's largest mass environmental event in support of the planet," said chief executive of WWF-Australia Dermot O'Gorman.    Earth Hour 2011     Earth Hour  2011 was organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature and also Wildlife Fund) on March 26, 2011 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., local time asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour 2011 is reportedly on track to become the largest Earth Hour aiming to garner more than the one billion participant goal. 126 countries have signed up for Earth Hour 2011.    Earth Hour to raise awareness   Earth Hour, organised by the World Wildlife Fund is intended to pressure governments to act on slowing global warming. The Empire State Building in New York, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the pyramids near Cairo, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Rio de Janeiro’s statue of Christ and hundreds of other landmarks will dim for 60 minutes.   Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley said the Copenhagen fiasco had not  dampened desire for multilateral action to reduce emissions. “After Copenhagen we were really fearful that Earth Hour would die, that people would be fatigued with climate change, but the opposite has happened,” he said. “The uptake has been phenomenal.” Mr. Ridley, who claims 1 billion Earth Hour participants in more than 125 countries, said the importance was not electricity saved but issues raised.

Earth Hour 2013 observed on March 23, 2013 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., local timer

Across the world, over 150 countries participated in the event on March 23, 2013. Palestine, Tunisia, Galapagos, Suriname, French Guyana, St Helena and Rwanda would be among those joining the global movement for the first time. "We aim to reach 2 billion people across the globe this year," he said. Last year, the campaign reached 1.8 billion people while in 2011 the figure stood at 1.2 billion.   Russian citizens have led the way for Earth Hour with WWF-Russia having collected 120,000 signatures for a petition to pass a long-awaited law to protect the country's seas from oil pollution last year. "Russia has considerably raised the bar for Earth Hour and has become a shining example of the incredible environmental outcomes that can be achieved when people work together and take action beyond the hour," said Ridley.    Earth Hour 2010    Nearly 1,387 icons and landmarks worldwide  turn off their lights for Earth Hour, including:: Acropolis of Athens , Athens : Abu Simbel temples , Aswan : Atomic Bomb Dome, Hiroshima;  Bank of America Tower, Miami ;Big Banana, Coffs Harbour; Big Ben, London; Brandenburg Gate, Berlin ; Burj Al Arab, Dubai; Burj Khalifa, Dubai ; Cairo Tower, Cairo; Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro ; CN Tower, Toronto ; Colosseum, Rome; Coca Cola Billboard, Kings Cross, Sydney; Eiffel Tower, Paris ; El Ángel, Mexico City ; Empire State Building, New York ; Forbidden City, Beijing ; Four Seasons Hotel, Miami ; Gateway Arch, St. Louis ; Grand Palace, Bangkok ; Hanoi Opera House, Hanoi ; KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur ; Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa; London Eye, London ; Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls; Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Lisbon ; Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur ; Piccadilly Circus, London ; Pyramids of Giza, Cairo; Red Fort, Delhi ; Reunification Palace, Ho Chi Minh City and many more famous landmarks   Earth Hour 2009   Earth Hour 2009 was from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time, March 28, 2009. 88 countries and 4,088 cities participated in Earth Hour 2009, ten times more cities than Earth Hour 2008 had (2008 saw 400 cities participate). One billion votes was the stated aim for Earth Hour 2009, in the context of the pivotal 2009. United Nations Climate Change Conference. Among the participants in 2009 was, for the first time, the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The U.N. conservatively estimates that its participation will save $102 in energy. Reports show that the United States topped the Earth Hour participation with an  estimated 80,000,000 people, 318 cities and 8 states participating.   Earth Hour 2008   Earth Hour 2008 was held internationally on March 28, 2008 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time, marking the first anniversary of the event. With 35 countries around the world participating as official flagship cities and over 400 cities also supporting, Earth Hour 2008 was celebrated on all seven continents. Iconic landmarks all around the world turned off their non-essential lighting for Earth Hour, According to a Zogby International online survey 36 million people participated in Earth Hour 2008.