全球熄灯响应“地球一小时”
More than 134 countries across the world, including the UK, switched off their lights for an hour on Sunday to support action to create a sustainable future for the planet。
Environmental charity World Wildlife Fund has organised the Earth Hour event which saw iconic buildings such as Big Ben, the BT Tower, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, Stormont in Northern Ireland and Cardiff's Millennium Centre blacking out for an hour。
The event, which took place at 8.30pm Sunday around the world, started in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia。
The aim is to highlight the charity's call on governments, organisations and individuals to pledge their commitment to tackling climate change。
At the Royal Albert Hall in London, television presenter Kirsty Gallacher led a team of 60 cyclists from the UK-World Wildlife Fund to create a huge human-powered projection with images of endangered species including dolphins and tigers being shone on to the building。
Colin Butfield, head of campaigns, WWF-UK, said: 'Our event at the Royal Albert Hall, alongside the hundreds of thousands of events across the world, shows global support for the need to tackle climate change and protect the natural world。
'The challenge for our future well-being could not be greater. WWF's Earth Hour is about creating a message so powerful that governments and businesses cannot fail to take notice.'
Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change。
The following year, Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating。
Four of the world's five tallest buildings turned off their lights with the tallest, the 828-metre Burg Khalifa in Dubai, switching off about half a million lights。
Also darkening for the occasion were floodlights at natural wonders such as Niagara and Victoria Falls and Table Mountain in South Africa。
上周日(译者注：北京时间上周六)，全球超过134个国家和地区的若干城市熄灯一小时，以支持为地球创建可持续发展未来的环保行动。英国也参与了这项活动。
“地球一小时”活动由环保机构世界自然基金会组织，参与活动的英国标志性建筑包括大本钟、英国电信塔、白金汉宫、温莎城堡、爱丁堡城堡、布里斯托尔的克利夫顿吊桥、北爱尔兰的斯托蒙特城堡、以及加的夫千禧中心。
这项活动于上周日晚八点半(译者注：北京时间上周六晚八点半)在全球开始，首先熄灯的是斐济、新西兰和澳大利亚。
活动旨在强调世界自然基金会发出的呼吁，号召政府、有关机构和个人践行应对气候变化问题所作出的承诺。
在伦敦的艾伯特演奏厅，电视主持人柯蒂斯•加拉彻带领60位英国自然基金会的环保人士用脚踏车为投影设备提供电力，在音乐厅的外墙上展现包括海豚、老虎在内的各种濒危动物的影像。
活动负责人、来自英国自然基金会的科林•巴特菲尔德说：“我们在艾伯特演奏厅的活动，以及在全球举办的成百上千场熄灯活动，体现出全球对于应对气候变化、保护自然界的支持。
“人类未来的福祉现在正面临最大的挑战。世界自然基金会的‘地球一小时’活动旨在传达这样一个强有力的信息，让政府和有关行业都无法忽视。”
“地球一小时”活动于2007年首次在澳大利亚悉尼举办，当时有220万人和超过两千家机构熄灯一小时，以示应对气候变化的决心。
在2008年，“地球一小时”活动就成为了一项全球的环保运动。当年有来自35个国家的超过五千万人参加。
全球最高的五座建筑中有四座都参与了这项活动。全球第一高楼、高达828米的迪拜“哈利法塔”关掉了大约50万盏灯。
尼亚加拉瀑布、维多利亚瀑布、以及南非的桌山等世界著名的自然景观照明灯也熄灯一小时，呼吁环保。