Post date: Mar 26, 2011 3:13:0 PM
Malaysia's twin tower and South Korea's main buildings turn off their lights for an hour to join Earth Hour in show of support for renewable energy.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (MARCH 26, 2011) REUTERS - Lights started going off around the world on Saturday (March 26) in a show of support for renewable energy.
In Malaysia, the lights went out at the landmark Petronas Twin Towers at 8:30pm local time to support an
international stance against climate change.Earth Hour was begun in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to prevent climate change with a "turning off the lights for one hour" campaign. The symbolic one-hour switch-off has become an annual global event.
This year it is given added poignancy by Japan's nuclear disaster which raises doubts about nuclear power as a possible solution.
Landmarks in thousands of cities, from Sydney Harbour Bridge to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, turn off the power for Earth Hour.
South Korea joined the event by turning off the lights in Seoul.
The lights were dimmed at major buildings and bridges across the country's capital at 8:30 p.m. (11:30GMT) and turned on again after an hour, 9:30 p.m. (12:30GMT).
Seoul citizens welcomed the event and set up candle lights on ground during the dark hour.
"It was a meaningful time for us to think about the Earth again as this kind of event is held in the centre of Seoul," said 22-year-old Park Sang-eun.
"It was good to see this meaningful event today. From now on, I will practice an environment-friendly life style and think about Earth's environmental problems in daily life," said Cho Min-Goo.
The remote Chatham Islands were the first of more than 100 nations and territories to turn off the power. The event will transverse around the globe and ends in Samoa.