Flick the switch for Earth Hour 2014

This year’s event is on schedule for last weekend of March

Earth Hour 2014 has been scheduled for 29 March and will begin at 8:30 pm local time. Over 7000 cities are expected to participate worldwide in a planned one-hour blackout that will conserve resources and hopefully reduce dependence on electricity around the world.

Earth Hour is an annual event organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to coax people to show their commitment to the environment. This is done by having citizens of all major cities around the world switch their lights off for one hour beginning at 8:30 pm and ending at 9:30 pm local time.

The major landmarks that will switch off this year include the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Tokyo Tower, Taipei 101, the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, Wat Arun Buddhist Temple in Bangkok, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, India Gate, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, South Africa’s Table Mountain, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Buckingham Palace in London, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Angel of Independence in Mexico City, the Empire State Building and Times Square in New York City, Niagara Falls, Los Angeles International Airport, the Las Vegas Strip and many more.

The first country to participate will be New Zealand with the lights of the Sky Tower in Auckland switching off at 8:30 pm (local time) to signify the start of Earth Hour 2014. The last country will be Tahiti.