Making a Statement: Earth Hour 2009

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
by RyanB

On Saturday, March 28^th, more than 1,000 cities in over 80 countries observed Earth Hour 2009. Starting at 8:30 PM, cities and towns around the world shut off the lights to promote climate change awareness and action. Started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, Earth Hour has grown tremendously in the last three years. The event was sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund.

Although there are many advocates of this event, there are also many people who criticize it. Many question how much energy is saved in only one hour of shutting the lights off, arguing that the planning and promotion of the event causes enough environmental harm that it offsets the benefits of Earth Hour. However, the sheer number of people involved in the event guarantees that much more energy is conserved because of the event than is used. Also, Earth Hour is more of a symbolic demonstration, with millions of people around the world telling world leaders that we need to do something about the climate crisis. As UN’s Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said, Earth Hour has the potential to be “the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted.”

With Earth Day 2009 coming up on April 22, we are facing possibly the most serious environmental crisis ever. As the population grows, we need to use more resources, much of which are nonrenewable and result in emissions of greenhouse gases. As climate change worsens, an environmental movement is beginning around the world, and world leaders including President Obama are making it one of their top priorities. However, recent events are suggesting that we may have less time to act than we originally thought. For example, in 2007, a large portion of Arctic sea ice (about 40%) vanished. Even with climate change, scientists predicted in 2004 that this would not happen for another 50 or 100 years. Along with this, we are seeing increases in occurrence and severity of droughts, floods, and storms around the world, as well as decreases in agricultural yields due to the changing climate. On a statistics website called Worldometers.info, you can actually see the average global temperature increase. Also, the amount of Carbon dioxide emissions this year goes up about 1,000 ton every three seconds. These statistics and recent events make it evident that we are facing a serious threat to our population and that urgent action is necessary.

Arctic sea near Svalbard

Millions of people simply shutting the lights off for one hour was a powerful message that gained worldwide attention. Clearly, Earth Hour 2009 was a much needed wake-up call to politicians and citizens around the world that we need to get serious about stopping climate change. This event is one of the largest public demonstrations ever, and has the potential to become increasingly influential in coming years.

Although we do not realize it, several of our everyday actions impact the environment. We are also affected by the environment everyday as well, and all of us experience the effects of climate change. Although many people will disagree with me on this, I believe that climate change is the most important problem we face today, because whether we realize it or not, it impacts every aspect of our life. It is affecting our food supply, rain cycles, ocean currents, sea levels, biodiversity and human health, as well as other aspects of our earth . Its impacts will only increase over time, but there is hope. There is a movement happening right now as concern about climate change grows. Renewable energy technology is being developed, windmills and solar panels are being installed around the world, and people are voicing their concerns on climate change. American colleges are reporting a dramatic increase in interest in renewable energy technologies and environmental science. Individuals, corporations, schools, and organizations are moving towards sustainability. This is one of our greatest opportunities to prove what the human race can accomplish while working toward a collective good. One person at a time. One light at a time. One goal: protecting this beautiful place we call home.

(Note: if you want to see more pictures of Earth Hour, there are some outstanding pictures at Boston.com

photo credit: Earth Hour Global

photo credit: Denmar

photo credit: Kenyai

Photo Credit: Pip_Wilson

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