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please state the flagship city for this year's earth hour
[[Image:Earth-Hour-Logo.jpg|thumb|200px|The logo for Earth Hour]]
'''Earth Hour''' is an event promoted by [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] Australia (WWF), an environmental lobby group, and the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' that asks households and businesses to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one hour of a March evening to promote electricity conservation and thus lower carbon emissions. The first Earth Hour was held in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] between 7.30pm and 8.30pm on [[31 March]], [[2007]]. The 2007 Earth Hour is estimated to have cut Sydney's mains electricity consumption by between 2.1% and 10.2% for that hour, with as many as 2.2 million people taking part. A second Earth Hour will be held in Sydney, [[Melbourne]], [[Montreal]], [[Toronto]], [[Chicago]], [[Tel Aviv]] and other cities on [[29 March]], [[2008]].

== Earth Hour 2007 ==
[[Image:Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House Earth Hour.jpg|thumb|275px|right|[[Sydney Harbour Bridge]] and [[Sydney Opera House]] during Earth hour]]
The 2007 Earth Hour was part of a wider awareness campaign that aimed to reduce Sydney's carbon emissions by 5%. 68,506 individuals and 2,270 businesses registered their intention to participate on the Earth Hour website.<ref>http://www.earthhour.org/faq</ref> [[EnergyAustralia]], a utility, attributed a 10.2% decrease in consumption during the hour to the campaign.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/enlightened-city-knocks-the-worlds-lights-out/2007/04/01/1175366081038.html Enlightened city knocks the world's lights out - Environment - smh.com.au<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A poll of about 1000 people conducted afterwards suggested that 57% of Sydneysiders participated – some 2.2 million people.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sydney-makes-dent-in-carbon-emissions/2007/04/01/1175366068525.html Sydney makes dent in carbon emissions - National - smh.com.au<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

=== Criticism ===

Earth Hour was the target of criticism from commentators who question whether humans are responsible for global warming, such as [[Andrew Bolt]] and [[Tim Blair]]<ref>[http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/lights_out_doubts_on/ Lights out, doubts on | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog]</ref>. Other criticisms centred on the Hour's effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions, whether the significant reduction in electricity consumption reported occurred at all, and questionable coverage of the event by the media conglomerate that sponsored it.

According to figures from [[EnergyAustralia]], a local utility, mains electricity consumption was 10.2% lower during the Hour than would be expected given the time, weather conditions and past four years' consumption patterns. Although the ''Herald'' equated this with "taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour," Bolt noted that it also represents taking a mere six cars off the road for a year - a negligible practical impact.<ref>[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21694864-7583,00.html Rage, rage against dimming of the light]</ref>

Blogger [[Andrew Landeryou]] noted that the drop-off in consumption could have been caused by consumers shifting their electricity use to occur before and after the Hour.<ref name='solomon'> {{cite web|url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~dsolomo1/EarthHour.pdf |title=Measuring the Impact of ‘Earth Hour’ |accessdate=2007-04-18 |last=Solomon |first=David |date=April 2007 |format=PDF }}</ref>

The 10.2% figure was itself challenged in a detailed analysis by [[David Solomon]], a student at the [[University of Chicago]]. Solomon used eight years of electricity usage data to conclude that the Earth Hour-inspired drop was only 6.33%, and that after other potential factors were taken into account, only 2.10%, "statistically indistinguishable from zero."<ref>[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21694864-7583,00.html Rage, rage against dimming of the light]</ref>

=== Fairfax coverage ===

''MediaWatch'', a television show scrutinising the press, reported on claims that ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' and ''[[The Age]]'' had run misleading photographs of the event.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1892855.htm Media Watch: Flicking The Switch (09/04/2007)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The newspapers, part of [[Fairfax Media]], an Earth Hour sponsor, published misleading captions on 'before' and 'after' photos of the event and over-exposed the 'before' shot to exaggerate the event's impact.<ref>[http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/coverington/index.php/theaustralian/comments/earth_hour_is_a_turn_off/desc/P40/ Earth Hour is a turn-off | Caroline Overington Blog | The Australian<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Though Fairfax angrily rejected the claims, the company later admitted that the captions were incorrect.<ref>[http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/comments/short_steps/ Tim Blair: Short steps]</ref> Fairfax's coverage of the event it sponsored was criticised by non-Fairfax commentators as biased.<ref>[http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/coverington/index.php/theaustralian/comments/earth_hour_is_a_turn_off/desc/P40/ Earth Hour is a turn-off | Caroline Overington Blog | The Australian<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

== Earth Hour 2008 ==
Strong backing from the [[City of Sydney]] and its Lord Mayor, [[Clover Moore]], helped to make Earth Hour 2008 an international event.<ref>[http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/html/3263-earth-hour---earth-always.asp Earth Hour - Earth Always :: Sydney Media :: City of Sydney<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

As of 18 March, over 9000 businesses and 136,000 individuals had indicated their intention to participate at earthhour.org.

Earth Hour 2008 will include the following "partner cities"<ref>http://www.earthhour.org/cities</ref>.
{{columns
| col1=
* [[Aalborg]], Denmark
* [[Aarhus]], Denmark
* [[Adelaide]], Australia
* [[Atlanta]], United States
* [[Bangkok]], Thailand
* [[Brisbane]], Australia
* [[Canberra]], Australia
* [[Chicago]], United States
* [[Christchurch]], New Zealand
| col2=
* [[Copenhagen]], Denmark
* [[Dublin]], Ireland
* [[Lautoka]], Fiji
* [[Metro Manila|Manila]], Philippines
* [[Melbourne]], Australia
* [[Montreal]], Canada
* [[Odense]], Denmark
* [[Ottawa]], Canada
* [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]], Australia
| col3=
* [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], United States
* [[San Francisco]], United States
* [[Suva]], Fiji
* [[Sydney]], Australia
* [[Tel Aviv]], Israel
* [[Toronto]], Canada
* [[Vancouver]], Canada
}}

== Graphical identity ==
Earth Hour is represented by a logotype, shown above, depicting the Earth in the shape of the number 60, as in the 60 minutes of an hour. The logotype must always appear on a black background.

The brand is owned jointly by WWF Australia, Fairfax Media and [[Leo Burnett Worldwide|Leo Burnett]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikinews|Sydney has one hour blackout}}
{{commons|Category:Earth hour|Earth hour}}
*[http://earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] - official website
*[http://www.christchurchearthhour.co.nz/ Christchurch Earth Hour] Earth Hour Christchurch.

[[Category:Emissions reduction]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Climate of Australia]]

[[de:Earth Hour]]

Revision as of 07:50, 19 March 2008

please state the flagship city for this year's earth hour