Earth Hour 2011 - The Big Picture ~ TECHNOLOGY&TECH.

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March 28, 2011
  [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (Tim Chong/Reuters) #

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The temple of the Parthenon in Athens shines brightly before Earth Hour, and dims during the observance.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (John Kolesidis/Reuters) #

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The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin lit up before and dark during observance of Earth Hour.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (Markus Schreiber/AP) #

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The lights around Budapest's downtown, with the oldest Hungarian bridge 'The Chain Bridge', and Buda Palace shine brightly before and go dim during Earth Hour.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Gotaplatsen Square and Kungsportsavenyn Street before and during Earth Hour in Gothenburg, Sweden.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (BjLarsson Rosval/SCANPIX/AP) #

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Times Square in New York observes Earth Hour...somewhat.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (Eric Thayer/Reuters) #

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Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is shown before and during Earth Hour in Brazil.   [click image to see it fade - javascript required]   (Felipe Dana/AP) #

More links and information

Earth Hour - official site

Earth Hour - Wikipedia entry

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Displaying only the last 100 comments. You can read all 60 comments over here. 60 comments so far...

Are the picture testament that Earth Hour failed? I thought it was funny Google\'s YouTube pages went black for an hour, unless you were using CRT monitor you weren\'t saving anything as LCD is always on no matter what color.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Rip' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 08:07 PM' i++;

The Parthenon one is my favourite!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Andre' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 07:47 PM' i++;

Most of these lights could stay off. Pure aesthetics.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Matt' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 07:31 PM' i++;

Wow!!! Awesome pix! Thanx ever so much for sharing\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Nana3Gwen' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 06:51 PM' i++;

Awesome!!!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Bobby' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 06:44 PM' i++;

I disagree completely with the assessment of others that Earth Hour is \"stupid\", \"nonsense\", or \"a non-event\". There are people living in cities who have never seen Orion, let alone any other constellation, who have never experienced Venus as either a morning or an evening star, and who have never even once seen Jupiter in ths sky-- all because of the utterly pointless and needless lights we as a society choose to have blaring outside. The heavens declare the glory of God, and if people can experience it for even one hour out of the year, it is better than nothing.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Justinian' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 06:23 PM' i++;

amazing. i think its not just sembolic. that much electricity is switched off! \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'mona' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:36 PM' i++;

A candle gives off more \"greenhouse gas\" per hour than the equivalent of a light bulb, geniuses.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Cap\'n Spackle' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:30 PM' i++;

To turn the lights on again cost 3x more and consume 5x more energy than keeping all lights on...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'BarbedWire' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:28 PM' i++;

hi from mexico!!!\
\ngreat pictures!!! Congrats!!!\
\n\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'David' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:24 PM' i++;

cool effects\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'jack' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:21 PM' i++;

...never knew we could save energy by stopping-down aperture and decreasing shutter-speed.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Dave' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:19 PM' i++;

Earth hour: non-event this year compared to last ...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Jeff' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 05:15 PM' i++;

@ Saurabh: we are saving no energy at all by doing this. The exact same amount of coal was burned, or nuclear waste generated, during that hour than the hour before. The power plants still produced the same amount of energy, but that energy was not used, and therefore, wasted. There is no good way to store energy, so we produce more than we need, to avoid blackouts. Kinda seems like a silly exercise then, huh?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Sheri' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:54 PM' i++;

It\'s rather a marketing or hypocrite hour. There are 8000+ hours per year, this one is only one.\
\nAnd it\'s not like the (most of the) power plants can be tuned down just like that, by a click for an hour. Most likely there was energy oversupply in this our at many places which obviously cannot be stored only dissipated somehow.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Oscee' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:54 PM' i++;

The night is so much better than all this artificial glare, and we need it for our health too.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Bambi' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:54 PM' i++;

Great initiative! Great pictures as always! Congratulations\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Leandro Cortiano Elias' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:45 PM' i++;

Suffice to say it would be a holiday for pick-pockets. Stupid!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'NancyO' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:40 PM' i++;

nice! \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Eduardo Calderon' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:39 PM' i++;

The dumbest thing ever conceived\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'George' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:36 PM' i++;

This was a great idea!. All the photos from around the world are awesome!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Lydia L. P. ' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:32 PM' i++;

Stupid.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Trellen Century' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:31 PM' i++;

Click to fade...Fantastic\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Prasanna' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:30 PM' i++;

Turn off the lights and light a candle, er carbon based fuel stick...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'NoWay' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:30 PM' i++;

Necesitamos la energ pero muchas veces la derrochamos. Bonitas fotos.\\n\n\

We need energy, but often wasteful. Nice pictures.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Ruben Castro' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:23 PM' i++;

By far one of the best post ever. Great job guys\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Thomas' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:23 PM' i++;

So much of this photo set is illustrating gross hypocrisy. What else can it mean when building owners make a show of turning off lights that should have never been installed to start with. What possible reason it there to have a building exterior lit up all night?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Gary Anderson' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:23 PM' i++;

Incredible pictures:).\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Brooke' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:22 PM' i++;

Why can\'t it be always dark? Imagine just how much energy is spoiled around the world.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Funz' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:20 PM' i++;

Simply awesome ! all the world is trying to do thier part , and the pictures are just too brilliant ! \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'kalyan' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:14 PM' i++;

great effort...save the world...make it a better place to live\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'sangboi' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:13 PM' i++;

Glad to see so many countries participating. Hopefully more people will become aware of how important it is to save our energy.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Micheline' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:11 PM' i++;

Always brilliant work...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'rita moreno' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:05 PM' i++;

wonderful images of some of the best skylines in the world BUT a totally useless gesture. \\n\n\

it\'d be more impressive if we had earth year, or earth-the-rest-of-our-lives.\\n\n\

it\'s just a feel-good gesture for individual citizens who ultimately aren\'t responsible for state of the environment.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'enaya' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 04:03 PM' i++;

Ahh, Earth hour. Another way we lie to ourselves, doing absolutely nothing to minimize our energy use, but celebrating like we are. It\'s great to be blissfully ignorant, isn\'t it?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Sheri' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:58 PM' i++;

The International Space Station orbits fast enough that it could capture Earth Hour from above. I wonder if submissions from their point of view are available. Having lived through the Great Northeast Blackout of 2003 and seeing the before-and-after images of that, there is a new respect for the dark.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Phoenixbeak' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:40 PM' i++;

earth hour aka hippie hour\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'rabs' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:39 PM' i++;

No pictures of Boston?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'anon' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:38 PM' i++;

too bad it\'s only an hour\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Kota Jarvi' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:33 PM' i++;

great photoas as usual. congratulations\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'joao almeida' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:33 PM' i++;

Amazing Picture collection. Love the \"click here\"\" and see the difference. Nicely done.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Lisa L.' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:30 PM' i++;

Nice to see the whole world doing something for the common cause. \
\nI wonder how much power are we saving by doing this. I am sure a lot of it. \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Saurabh' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:28 PM' i++;

I\'m no tree hugger and didn\'t take part in Earth Hour but I do wish people would not throw their garbage from automobiles. \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Optimus Choice' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:27 PM' i++;

Beautiful.\\n\n\

Also, first.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Motherpuncher' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:26 PM' i++;

Yawnnn...what nonsense! Who cares?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Odumba' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:24 PM' i++;

These are great!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Drew' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:22 PM' i++;

#2 (Sydney) is dishonest, notice the vast difference in light level between lights that weren\'t turned off.\\n\n\

Many of the others are very well done!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Joe' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:15 PM' i++;

excellent photos, the fade feature is great...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'john williams' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:13 PM' i++;

Superb #8\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Logan' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:13 PM' i++;

....we should switch off the light every night!!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Dietmar Walser' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:12 PM' i++;

Those pictures are awesome!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'D. Haddox' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:10 PM' i++;

Just symbolic... but the energy consumption is growing each day\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Marmock' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:09 PM' i++;

How pretty every place looks in the normal night; much better than all the lights!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'JSimonson' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:05 PM' i++;

asteg!\\n\n\

anlufet!\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'elmo' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:00 PM' i++;

Times Square = Fail. So sad.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Daniel' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 03:00 PM' i++;

Very astonishing, as usual! But....where is THE city of lights, Paris ?\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Nathan' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 02:59 PM' i++;

Ah, Earth Hour, the one time of year when the entire world can pretend to be as bass-ackwards as North Korea is year round...\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'Taoist' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 02:56 PM' i++;

But everything looked better with the lights on.\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'RS' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 02:52 PM' i++;

excelentes pictures :)\' bpCmId[i][2] = 'lis' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 02:15 PM' i++;

wow. great pics! \' bpCmId[i][2] = 'jim' bpCmId[i][3] = 'March 28, 2011 02:07 PM' i++;

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