Hello engineering world, after a long time. Well this post is a bit hard to construct, considering that more than a week has passed since the last lectures.
The saturday before Holy Week was March 28 and at 8:15 in the evening, the world celebrated Earth Hour 2015 where millions unite for climate action. Earth hour is a global movement by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that began in 2007 with partners in Sydney, Australia. After 8 years, it has now spread to ~7,000 towns and cities around the world. Around 2.2 million people worldwide turn off their lights as a sign of solidarity.
However, this movement, like many others, have been criticised and it has been asked if it really makes any difference, if it does any good. Some argue that although the lights are turned out, the generators are still running. They also say that the energy needed for people all over the world to drive the Earth Hour parties just cancel out the energy saved by turning out the lights. In addition to this, millions of batteries and candle wax were consumed in the process. Furthermore, they say that Earth Hour will not reduce carbon emissions. With some data from energy experts it is said that although power stations are shut down, the upsurge when the lights are turned back on will require power stations that can fire up quickly like coal and oil. Energy experts say that Earth Hour could even result to an increase in carbon emissions, making it useless.
But Earth Hour goes far beyond that one hour of lights out. And reducing carbon emissions is not really the main point, according to WWF. It is about raising awareness, to save energy in the long term. It aims to call for action on global climate change.
With 172 participating countries and territories, around 1,400 iconic landmarks switched off, 66 countries that have gone beyond turning off their lights, more than 378 million Twitter reach, 36.5 million video views, and 5.9 million Facebook reach, Earth Hour has been able to definitely make a difference. It may not solve all of the world’s problems, but definitely it has been able to truly raise awareness. It is the simple movements like these that will enable great change in the future. If only we all are able to participate and launch movements, as individuals, we can make a change and help save the earth!
Watch the official Earth Hour video here:
References:
[1]https://www.earthhour.org/
[2]http://ecosalon.com/does-earth-hour-really-make-a-difference/
[3]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/climatechange/7527469/Earth-Hour-will-not-cut-carbon-emissions.html
Engineering Perspectives 