"VAN" (International Desk) :: Cities around the world, on Saturday turned off their lights for “Earth Hour” activity, as this year’s event focuses on the link between harming the natural world and disease outbreaks like Covid-19.
France Press News Agency stated that the organizers of the current year’s Earth Hour campaign aimed at highlighting the link between the destruction of nature and increasing outbreaks of diseases.
It is noteworthy that every year, millions of people across the planet turn off the lights between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm. The goal of this activity is to spread awareness about sustainability and climate change. This year Earth Hour will be held on March 27, 2021.
The annual tradition of shutting down electric lights for one hour was started by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the first Earth Hour was held in Sydney in 2007.
WWF had encouraged 2.2 million people to turn off their lights for one hour. This was done to support action against climate change.
This year, in London, the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Shard skyscraper and neon signs of Piccadilly Circus were among the landmarks flicking the switches.
In Paris, the three stages of the Eiffel Tower progressively went dark.
In Rome, the lights went out at the 2,000-year-old Colosseum.
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Moscow’s Red Square also joined the annual initiative that calls for action on climate change and the environment.
In the Americas, the Empire State Building in New York, the Obelisk of Buenos Aires and the Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow were among venues dimming the lights.
Experts believe human activity such as widespread deforestation, destruction of animals’ habitats and climate change are spurring this increase, and warn more pandemics could occur if nothing is done.
“Whether it is a decline in pollinators, fewer fish in the ocean and rivers, disappearing forests or the wider loss of biodiversity, the evidence is mounting that nature is in freefall,” said Marco Lambertini, director general of the WWF, which organizes Earth Hour. “And this is because of the way we live our lives and run our economies.
“Protecting nature is our moral responsibility but losing it also increases our vulnerability to pandemics, accelerates climate change, and threatens our food security,” Lambertini said.
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