“Earth Hour” marked around the globe

March 29, 2010) Landmarks such as Sydney's Opera House, Beijing's Forbidden City, London's Big Ben and the Paris' Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe temporarily went dark on Saturday as nations dimmed the lights for Earth Hour 2010 to call for action on climate change. The symbolic one-hour switch-off, first held in Sydney in 2007, has become an annual global event organized by World Wide Fund for Nature. The remote Chatham Islands was the first of more than 100 nations and territories to turn off the power at 8:30 p.m. local time, in a relay event around the globe that ended just across the International Dateline in Samoa 24 hours later. In New York City, the Empire State Building and Chrysler building went dark, as did the Times Square theatre district and the United Nations building. India too observed the Earth Hour starting at 8:30 pm. Hundreds of Delhi residents and people in other Indian cities voluntarily switched off their lights for one hour to observe Earth Hour. "As we watch the lights go out from continent to continent, let us reflect on the fragility and importance of our natural heritage and pledge to protect it for a sustainable future for all," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement for the global event.