Earth Hour to Switch Off the Globe

• 377 cities already committed, and double the number of countries that participated in 2008
  
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads call for action on climate change
  
• Christ The Redeemer statue to turn off its lights
  
• Iconic Obama artist Shepard Fairey joins campaign
  

February 5, 2009: With eight weeks still to go before people around the world switch off their lights for Earth Hour, the public awareness raising campaign on climate change is showing signs of being the greatest voluntary action the world has ever witnessed.
The lights out initiative, which began in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign, has evolved into a grassroots action that has captured the attention of the citizens of the world. In 2008, 371 cities across 35 countries turned their lights out in a united call for action on climate change.
Now, with almost two months still remaining before Earth Hour 2009, that number has already been eclipsed, with 377 cities across 74 countries now committed to turning off their lights for one hour at 8.30pm on 28 March.
WWF Director General, Mr James Leape, said he is optimistic about the campaigns potential to drive key decision making on the issue of climate change.
With hundreds more cities expected to sign up to switch off in the coming months, Earth Hour 2009 is setting the platform for an unprecedented global mandate for action on climate change, he said.
The list of cities confirming their participation in Earth Hour 2009 includes 37 national capitals and some of the great cities of the world, including London, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Athens, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Manila, Las Vegas, Brussels, Cape Town and Helsinki.
Along with the great metropolises of the world, Earth Hour 2009 will also see the lights go out on some of the most recognised landmarks on the planet, including Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Merlion in Singapore, Sydney Opera House, CN Tower in Toronto, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the worldís tallest constructed building Taipei 101.
A host of high profile ambassadors across the world have also lent their support to the campaign, most notably Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett. Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the iconic imagery for Barack Obama in the recent US Presidential Election, has agreed to create artwork for the Earth Hour campaign.
Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr Andy Ridley, said the 2009 campaign is an opportunity for the people of the world to cast their vote on this important global issue.
Earth Hour by its very nature is the essence of grassroots action. This is the opportunity for individuals from all corners of the globe to unite in a single voice and demand action on climate change, said Mr Ridley.
2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the worldís leaders due to meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour at 8:30pm Saturday March 28 2009!
Earth Hour will be celebrated on March 28, 2009. Cities already listed to participate in Earth Hour 2009 include Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Nashville, Oslo, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, and Warsaw.
On this special night, the world will witness some of the most recognisable landmarks on the planet dim the lights in support of decisive action on climate change. Icons switching off include the world’s tallest hotel building in Dubai - the Burj Dubai, the tallest free-standing structure in the Americas - the CN Tower in Toronto, Moscow's Federation Tower and in Rome - Quirinale - the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.
Auckland's Sky Tower - the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere will go dark, joined by Australia’s iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House and across in Cape Town, South Africa, the iconic Table Mountain will mark Earth Hour by turning off its flood lights.
Earth Hour 2008
Where did the lights go off?
From the President of Fiji to the residents of Santa Cruz in Bolivia, individuals around the world turned off the lights off in their homes and businesses.
Major participation took place in more then 25 major cities, on 6 continents, including Chicago, Copenhagen, Manila, Tel Aviv, Bangkok, Dublin and Toronto.
In total more than 400 more cities signed up to support this event in 2008.
Lights off at The Sydney Opera House, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Toronto's CN Tower meant world-famous city skylines disappeared for an hour while celebrities like Nelly Furtado hosted acoustic concerts for fans.
Join this campaign and spread this message to every human. As a nation and as an individual that we should care about mother nature.

South Asia Region – Towards a Climate Change Strategy

World Bank is releasing a new report titled 'South Asia Region – Towards a Climate Change Strategy'. According this report there are several factors like, high population densities, a large concentration of poverty and the region’s climate variability have all combined to make South Asia highly sensitive to the consequences of climate change. This report forecasts that climate change has the potential to compound existing development problems and increase pressures on key resources needed to sustain future growth, urbanisation and industrialisation.
South Asia is the least integrated region in the world but would grow further if it were more integrated. Regional cooperation can be a powerful tool for increasing growth, reducing inequality, increasing energy trade and reducing vulnerabilities for the poor, suggests the report.
Climate change will reinforce the need for greater levels of economic integration. Likewise regional energy trade can contribute to the goal of low-carbon development. The challenge for South Asia is to maintain high growth rates while being climate resilient, environmentally sustainable and inclusive, it says.
Forecasts suggest higher but more variable and intense rainfall in South Asia, except in the relatively drier areas of Afghanistan, western India and Pakistan, which could see even less rainfall. IPCC projections indicate that the number of days for which extreme events last would increase in duration and severity. This effect will be especially pronounced in South Asia with its reliance on the monsoons – more so than in many other parts of the world.
Changes in precipitation and temperature are expected to interact in complex ways to change the balance between ‘green’ water and ‘blue’ water. ‘Green’ water is the water that is used or lost in catchments before it reaches the rivers, while ‘blue’ water is the runoff that reaches the rivers. The runoff is expected to change significantly in the subcontinent, with implications for agriculture. The Indus and Ganges/Brahmaputra basins are expected to experience increased runoff driven by precipitation changes and glacial melt.
South Asia is subject to a range of climate-related disasters, including tropical cyclones, sand storms, floods and droughts. Although it is difficult to predict the relationship between storms and climate change, it is expected, globally, that there will be more storms, at higher intensity.
Likewise, floods and droughts are also expected to increase given predictions of higher precipitation in fewer days. Over 50 per cent of South Asians – more than 750 million people – have been affected by a natural disaster in the last two decades. The human and economic toll has been high with almost 230,000 deaths and about $45 billion in damages, it says.
With rising temperatures the ice mass of the Himalayan-Hindukush is retreating more rapidly than the global average in some locations.The receding trends of glacier masses threaten water supplies, livelihoods and the economy of the region.
Agriculture and the region’s economic structure will need to undergo significant adjustment to cope with these changes.
The region faces daunting climate-related development challenges. The impacts of climate change in the form of higher temperatures, more variable precipitation and more extreme weather events are already felt in South Asia and it has been projected that these will intensify.
High population levels translate into increased resource demands on an already stressed natural resource base. By 2050, South Asias population is likely to exceed 2.2 billion from the current level of 1.5 billion. With an estimated 600 million South Asians subsisting on less than $1.25 a day, even small climate shocks can cause irreversible losses and tip a large number of people into destitution.
Sea level rise is a major source of concern not only for coastal urban areas but also for the fertile delta systems, which are threatened by both inundation and salinity intrusion. Salt water intrusion in low-lying agricultural plains and water resources could lead to localised food insecurity, spread of water-related diseases and the contamination of freshwater reserves.
South Asia is home to some of the fastest growing cities in the world. Projections indicate that in three decades about half the region’s population will dwell in the cities. By 2020, Mumbai will be the second largest city in the world, closely followed by Delhi, and Dhaka. With Karachi and Kolkata – five of the world’s 11 mega-cities will then be in South Asia.
There are particular challenges in making cities’ climate resilient. Building urban resilience requires improving infrastructure, governance and finance. Without a substantial investment in basic amenities and infrastructure in these large cities, climate change will exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.

In Israel 90% of homes have solar heaters.

Would not one wonder that in Israel, 90% of homes have solar water heaters installed. When viewed from above, the Jerusalem often glitters with the shine of the thousands of solar heaters that adorn rooftops. These heaters were first installed when the country experienced a fuel supply crisis in the early 1950s. The government responded by severely restricting the times when water could be heated. Israelis in turn responded by purchasing huge quantities of solar water heaters. By 1983, 60% of the population heated their water with the sun. A law was eventually passed requiring the installation of solar water heaters. Hawaii has enacted a law that requires all new homes to install solar water heaters. Eventually, Hawaii may have as many water heaters as Israel. In 2005, Spain became the second country (after Israel) to require solar water heaters. It also became the first country to require the installation of solar cells for electricity generation in new buildings.

In many climates, a solar heating system can provide a very high percentage (50% to 75%) of domestic hot water energy. In many northern European countries, solar power is used not only to heat water, but also to provide 15 to 25% of home heating energy. There is need to create awareness on effects of climate change and rising energy costs. There are many solar thermal
systems which are being widely used in both residential and commercial applications to provide hot water, space heating, industrial hot water and even air-conditioning. Installing just one solar thermal collector can reduce CO2 levels as much as planting more than 200 trees and is the perfect choice for people wanting to become part of the SOLUTION by reducing their carbon footprint.
India and Pakistan can also benefit as they have enough Sun shine. Installing Solar heater can reduce there dependence on fossil fuels and the general populace should benefit from this solar heating.