Sunday, March 27, 2011

Earth Hour: How Did We Do?

A little background:
Earth Hour is an annual event introduced by the World Wildlife Fund and is held on the last Saturday of March every year. During the worldwide event, participants are asked to cut off their lights and any other unnecessary appliances for one whole hour to drive home the idea of conservation, literally. The organization aims to reduce the amount carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.

This year, hundreds of countries and an estimated 1 billion people participated. Landmarks all around the world like the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, and the Las Vegas Strip also cut off their power for Earth Hour.

Unfortunately, there is no actual report that collects how much each city or each country saved (stupid right? That information seems valuable.) However, last year in Chicago alone 124,000 pounds of carbon dioxide were prevented from entering the atmosphere; that's the equivalent of 15 acres of trees being planted. So one could only imagine how much that adds up to worldwide, and because the event was more talked about this year, the impact is sure to be higher.

So I ask you this,
1. Do you think this makes any sort of impact on climate change?
2. What do you think about required or forced hours of reduced electricity throughout the year to make more of an impact?
3. Do you even think climate change is an issue?
4. Are polar bears awesome?
5. Don't you hate it when you burn your mouth on something and can't taste food properly for days?

Before Earth Hour/During Earth Hour

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. No.
2. Yes. Big fat yes. I say do it. There's nothing like forcing people to save money off their electricity bills.
3. No. It's natural. People should stop complaining and realise that ice ages and heat ages are natural.
4. Yes.
5. Oh god it's awful. :(

Jesper said...

1. Not really
2. I dont think there is a point..
3. Yes absolutly
4. Oh YES!
5. I love food so yes again ..

Punky said...

I practice earth hour on average 6 hours a day when I go to sleep.
1. If everyone in the world did it, probably a little.
2. If they do that I'm buying personal solar panels.
3. Doubtful.
4. Kinda
5. YES

Unknown said...

1. Not rly, no
2. there is no stoping, if we cant come up with some more "green" energy
3. kinda
4. No, why are there only so few white bears?! racism!
5. Yeer

Kelley Muro said...

1. It's hard to tell.
2.It could help. But switching over to 'greener' bulbs might be more realistic.
3.No.
4.Yes.
5.YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Kevings said...

1. Well... Yes and no. One hour a year hardlu does a difference in the big picture.
2. Whatever we can do to helping our own future should be taken, but with with limits. There is no need for it to go overboard.
3. Hell yes :P
4. Most aewesome bear of them bears!
5. Yes - and i do it way to often -.-

Tibble said...

1. dont really know, doubt it
2. No, forcing people is the wrong way, people need to want to do it!
3. No
4. Yes
5. ah dont man, cheese pizza gave me blisters last week and its only just back to normal. You try eating spicy food with blisters on your mouth! ouch!

Goregrindmadness said...

1. Nah.
2. No. But we can use more green sources of energy, which are not commonly used.
3. Yes sure.
4. Yes.
5. Yea its horrible, but i am very cautious.

Ano said...

1. I doubt that
2. it would probably host good for the climate, but come on ...
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. ah, I hate it!

Patres said...

1. Not once a year and for just an hour, no
2. That's not the solution, the solution is a more steady reduction all day every day.
3. I haven't lived long enough (and I reckon nobody here has) to say "it was different back then", there are natural trends we might see as climate change
4. Polar bear cavalry is
5. Yes, but it's not as bad as burning your stomach and it hurting for days =(

Joe said...

I dont think it does the job at defeating climate change (In my blog I stated that the whole stunt did about as much as turning off China's carbon output for 45 seconds), but I think it does send a message.

And yeah Polar Bears are awesome. RIP Knut :(

higherr said...

It doesn't do a whole lot to go against climate change, one hour is not alot of time for something to impact it that much

Bassislv said...

1. No
2. probably not the solution
3. yes
4. totally
5. yes and it sucks

King Elysium said...

I might participate in this, but no i dont think it will make a huge impact, such a small amount of people will be doing it.

Ennovative said...

This was a beautiful sign from humankind

Xuian said...

honestly, I'm surprised the grid can handle large fluctuations in power like that. I wouldn't be surprised if the power companies have to frantically prepare for it. 0.5 mega watts being used for an hour, then suddenly 2 mega watts within a minute.

Hats off to the participants, though, doing a good thing :)

MrBunni said...

1. Probably not.
2. No, instead use technology to fix Some of the problems we currently have.
3. Not really
4. Polar bears are nothing compared to owls.
5. Yes i hate it when that happens.

Anonymous said...

1. Sadly no
2. I think it will take a lot more than that
3. Yes I do
4. They are okay
5. It only lasts for a few hours for me

I like what certain cities are doing with charging $ for the pounds of trash you dump. I think that's great incentive to be less wasteful.

Mu said...

1. Eh, even a small difference is a difference.
2. It's an interesting idea, I think it would help but I don't think it'll ever be enforced.
3. I don't know, honestly. At least I don't know if it's from humanity's hands.
4. Meh
5. Not really as I usually eat for the purpose of getting full and not taste :OOO

Our Blog said...

I do love Polar Bears! Awesomest creature ever. Also, that city doesn't look too dark during earth hour, why not leave it like that?

ExoticBlogger said...

1. Yes
2. I think it would cut down on a lot of wasted electricity.
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. and hell yes.

EmoGoth said...

I don't think it has a huge impact on the environment, but the picture shows a pretty big difference.

Shaft said...

Not sure about 1-4 but I hate when I burn the inside of my mouth. Its a huge PITA and nothing taste right for a week. Depending on where I burned it of course.

Andrew said...

It should be the earth day, give the earth a break for god sake

asldkasd said...

1.Absolutely not, for everyone that turns of their lights, someones rapes their house with electricity for fun.
2. It could make an impact, but it'll never happen - Liberties and all that.
3. Not really, it's a natural thing.
4. I think it's awesome how they learned to cover their black nose when hunting so the prey can't see them.
5. Yes -_-

Unknown said...

1. It may affect attitudes and have a long-term, indirect effect.
2. It's a start. It's mostly irrelevant, as most of the climate change is caused by industry and not household usage.
3. Yes.
4. *shrugs*
5. Ruins the whole point of eating!

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