Two dozen cities around the world plan to turn their lights off for one hour later this year in a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about global warming, organizers said Wednesday. Last March, Sydney dimmed its skyline when residents, businesses and the local government took part in the first "Earth Hour" event that asked people to think about cutting their energy use. Organizers estimated that 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses in Sydney turned off their lights, reducing the city's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, or the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for that time.
Atlanta, Bangkok, Dublin, Montreal, Ottawa, Phoenix, San Francisco and Vancouver agreed this week to dim the lights, the fund said, joining cities that signed up earlier: Chicago, four Danish cities, six Australian state and territory capitals, Manila, Suva, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Christchurch.
Sydney was not the first city to cut the lights for conservation. In February last year, Paris and other parts of France dimmed the lights for five minutes in a similar gesture. Rome, Athens, Bangkok and San Francisco have also held similar events.