Earth Hour 2021: Know The Significance And The Focus For The Year

Human's dependence on non renewable energy has been one of the biggest contributor to climate change. According to recent developments, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001, with 2016 being the warmest yet.

Image Source (earthhour.org)

New Delhi: Earth Hour was first marked in 2007 and since then every year on the last Saturday in March at 8:30 pm the Earth Hour is celebrated. Around the world, people switch off their non-essential electrical appliances for an hour in a way to conserve energy. 

This year, Earth Hour will be observed on Saturday, March 27th, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

The initiative, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to raise awareness and inspire people to take concrete action on environmental issues. 

This year due to the ongoing pandemic the celebration has been taken online through Virtual Spotlight, the organisation will be sharing a video on their social media pages during the hour which they have asked people to share with everyone they know. While, they haven't relieved what the video is about it will focus on 'planet earth and the issues we face in a new light.' 

In 2009, India observed its first Earth Hour and Delhi alone reportedly saving 700 MW of power. 

Last year as well, keeping in mind the Covid-19 restrictions the Earth Hour was celebrated virtually as people were under lockdown despite which Earth Hour 2020 garnered support in a record-breaking 190 countries and territories, including India, and produced over 4.7 billion global social media impressions, the highest ever.

Climate Change: 

According to WWF, as the planet continues to warm, climate patterns change. Extreme and unpredictable weather will become more common across the world as climate patterns change, with some places being hotter, some places being wetter, and some places being drier. These changes can have (and are already having) drastic impacts on all life on Earth.

Burning fossil fuels, breeding cattle and cutting down forests has led the carbon dioxide to be trapped in the earth which is continually taking us closer to irreversible damage.