MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lights out in climate change event

Sydney was the first major city to begin “Earth Hour”, when at 2000 (0900 GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Sydney was the first major city to begin "Earth Hour", when at 2000 (0900 GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Lights were then turned off in Bangkok, Manila, Budapest, Copenhagen and Dublin as those cities joined the effort. Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco were among a total of 27 cities due to follow suit at 2000 local time. Critics have dismissed the event as a gimmick that will have little effect. Australians marked Earth Hour by holding candle-lit beach parties, dinners and poker games, while traditional Aboriginal torchlight performances were also held. And in New Zealand, thousands of homes and more than 100 business in Christchurch turned out the lights. WWF Thailand said the switch-off in Bangkok saved 73.34 megawatts of electricity, which would have produced 45.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide. In UK The Prince of Wales' residence in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, and Winchester Cathedral were among those plunged into darkness as part of Earth Hour. Organiser WWF-UK enlisted the support of 28 local authorities to switch off their lights between 8pm and 9pm on Saturday night. These included London, Birmingham, Plymouth, Coventry, Bournemouth, Cardiff and Norwich. The lights were also turned off at the Welsh Assembly, Warwick Castle, Brighton Pier, the theatre district of Milton Keynes and all the arcades in Great Yarmouth. A spokeswoman for WWF-UK explained the event would be repeated again next year when the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen will be held. She said: "This year was a warm-up year. We decided we would push it our further in 2009. "We are going to send out a big message that people around the world really care." The event was part of a global campaign with lights going off at iconic landmarks including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge for the hour.