Turn Off the Lights to See What Is Going On
The Earth Hour started as a lights-off event in Sidney in 2007. Today thousands of cities join worldwide to rise awareness on climate change.
The Earth Hour is not about protesting, but about commitment. Today we are turning the lights off (8–9pm) so that people worldwide will be aware of climate change.
But climate change it’s not only about melting glaciers. It is also about sustainability. About food supply. About survival.
This evening, thousands off cities will turn off the lights. The Eiffel Tower, the Empire State, the Sydney Opera House. But what really matters is the underlying message:
Yes, I have seen bears in good shape — but I have also seen dead and starving polar bears. (…) With the pack ice retreating further and further north every year, [the females] tend to be stuck on land where there’s not much food. In the first year, they lose their first cub. In the second year, they lose their second (and last) cub (…)
Climate change is happening big deal here in the Arctic. And it is our decision to trying to change this. So: let’s do something about the biggest threat of our time. Maybe we cannot save this bear here. But every little action we do to change our ways is a step in the right direction. We just have to get started and keep on going! –Kersting Langenberger
The photographer Kersting Lagenberger published this picture of a starving polar bear in August 2015. A very scary image showing that climate change is not only about average temperature rising, or melting glaciers. It is also about access to food vs overpopulation. About overuse of natural resources. About sustainability. About survival.
The Earth Hour is a global annual event where millions of people switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about our planet.
Today, turn off the lights. Spread the word. Explain what this ‘simple’ act really means. Don’t tweet about what you are doing in the darkness, tweet about what you are doing to survive. Our actions today, will decide what tomorrow will look like.
The Earth Hour should be every hour.
Barkibu joins the Earth Hour because we care about the future and the world we live in.
