In 2007, WWF-Australia, Fairfax Media and Leo Burnett began an initiative to increase public awareness in regard to global warming by introducing Earth Hour to Sydney, Australia. More than two million Sydney residents participated, turning off their lights and any other non-essential electronic devices for one hour. On March 29th, 2008, the effort was expanded to 24 cities around the globe.
That one hour is a statement, but the true goal of Earth Hour is to encourage people to reduce emissions by 5% throughout the year that follows. Some suggestions include turning off idling electronics and switching light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs. This push is to combat the great monster at the back of the world's collective mind: global warming.
Global Warming
You've heard it in schools, in the media, in politics and just about everywhere. Global warming is the new buzzword. As with all tales of gloom and doom, there are plenty of skeptics. Temperatures are rising. Anyone who says otherwise either isn't paying attention or is in denial. What seems to be ignored is that this cycle has happened before. From approximately A.D 1000-A.D 1350, there was a period of heightened temperatures comparable to that of those today, in what is known as the “Medieval Warm Period.” Afterwards, a cooling down period, dubbed “The Little Ice Age,” on which such natural phenomena as Ireland's potato famine is blamed. These temperature shifts happen on a small scale every 40 years or so, and in a larger cycle of 400 years.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that this isn't a natural cycling of temperatures, and that we must do something or risk all manner of catastrophes. Scientists - and Earth Hour - are pushing for a reduction in carbon dioxide, or CO2, to correct the problem. Every year, one hundred and eighty-six billion tons of carbon dioxide enters the Earth's atmosphere. How much of that is directly related to human activity? Just six billion tons. That's less than 5%. Still, it can be helpful to reduce it, right?
Not really, at least as far as climactic regulation is concerned. That massive amount of carbon dioxide actually only makes up 4/100ths of a percent of all the gases in our atmosphere. There is absolutely nothing that can be accomplished to slow the temperature shift by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This is especially true considering the fact that a vast percentage of current emissions is contained with the ocean, and will be released into the atmosphere over time. All, if any, effects would be felt well after the fact.
Earth Hour's Effects
That doesn't mean that this program serves no purpose. There is very little in the way of clean energy right now, and even though the presence of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is not the cause of global warming itself, pollutants are gradually destroying our ecosystems. And, if a person can't bring themselves to conserve energy for anything other than selfish reasons, he can at least appreciate the reduction in his monthly electric bill. One hour out of the year - which comes to over nine thousand hours - isn't going to do much to decrease these pollutants. If habits emerge from these demonstrations, however, it can greatly benefit our world.
Still, one wonders if these resources might not be better applied to finding a clean energy source. Some will respond to the movement in a life-altering way. Most, however, will just get their cup of "feel-good" from that single hour, and continue life as they left off. Human nature can produce no less.
