Earth Hour 2010 took place at 8.30pm last Saturday across the globe. WWF reports that over 4,000 cities in 126 countries took part in turning off their lights for one hour to show support for the campaign against climate change.

In a spectacular show of global unity famous landmarks were left in the dark including Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Pyramids, Rome’s Coliseum, Sydney’s Opera House and the Forbidden City in China.

In the UK lights went out across the country at landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, Wales Millennium Centre and Stadium in Cardiff, Edinburgh Castle and the Wheel in Belfast.

Thousands of families and businesses also took part in what is meant to be a demonstration to governments across the globe that we care about the planet and demand action on climate change.

In our household the candles were lit and lights turned off – on fact we just turned the electricity off at the mains. James and I settled down with our 12 year old daughter to a huge game of dominoes on the living room floor! It was great fun and in fact we left the lights off late on as well. When we turned the electricity back on the hum of the appliances around the house was shocking! Perhaps we should implement this Earth Hour more often. There is in fact a call for a monthly Earth Hour – I think we might just join in!

For more information and to see the fantastic photo diaries from around the world check out the WWF UK website. It is truly inspirational.

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Please sign up and support now. Text EARTH to 88008. Texts cost £1 plus standard network rate. Or go to www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour.

Last year on Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm local time, the world switched off its lights for an hour.

It was the biggest call for international action on climate change ever seen, and it was called Earth Hour – organised by the international conservation charity WWF.

And nearly 1 billion people joined in, signed up and switched off.

Now in its forth year, Earth Hour 2010 is taking place on Saturday 27 March at 8.30pm, and it needs to be even bigger. After the disappointing lack of commitment in Copenhagen last December, Earth Hour is our chance to show we’ve not given up.

Getting the attention of world leaders is never going to be an easy task, but Earth Hour is becoming impossible to ignore. So far, 579 cities and towns have signed up in 77 countries. And the list of iconic landmarks that will be plunged into darkness is growing longer and more impressive by the day.

The Las Vegas strip, the Grand Palace in Bangkok, the Empire State building, the Pyramids of Giza, the Acropolis, Tapei 101 tower in Taiwan and the London Eye are just some of over 1000 monuments and buildings across the globe that will be switching off.

Earth Hour is a huge act of global unity. Its success is based on the fact that every one of us plays a vital role from the comfort of our candle-lit living room. It’s open-source in its purest form. And, through the fabulous and far-reaching power of social media, everyone from individuals to international businesses can support the event and encourage their friends, staff and customers to do the same.

So what do you need to do? Well, very simply, sign up and switch off. And if you have a website, stick a banner ad on it to attract new interest. And if you have a customer database, or a heaving address book, send everyone an email telling them that they have an opportunity to show the world’s leaders that climate change is an issue that won’t go away – too many of us care about the future of our planet, and too many of us demand a commitment from them to find ways of saving it.

It’s not just about switching off – you need to raise your hand too.

When it comes to influencing the people with the power to bring about change, it’s name and numbers that count. That’s why WWF need as many people to register their support as possible – either by texting EARTH to 88008 or by visiting www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour 

Climate change – the issues

Climate change affects the balance of every eco system on the planet – which of course has huge consequences for humans as well as animals.

Increased risks of hurricanes and floods as temperatures and sea levels rise, alongside devastating droughts in other areas of the world – all these things are likely to increase as the effects of climate change take hold.

WWF works with governments, research organisations, local communities, businesses and other NGOs across the world to increase awareness of climate change and influence policy decisions at local and international level.

That’s what Earth Hour is all about.

The polar bear is perhaps the most publicised victim of global warming, as rising temperatures lead to melting sea ice in the Arctic. The polar bear uses the sea ice for hunting and gets most of its food while on the ice during spring and early summer. Due to climate change, the summer sea ice is melting earlier in the year and forming later. So the bears are going without food for longer – which significantly decreases their chance of survival.

But it’s not just the polar bear that’s suffering. It’s estimated that the number of tigers living in the wild could be as few as 3,200. Increased global temperatures are leading to rising sea levels and increased rainfall, submerging large areas of the Bengal tigers’ natural habitat in Bangladesh and forcing them inland and straight into the barrels of the poachers’ guns.

Unless we act now, there is a real possibility that tigers will soon be extinct in the wild. 2010 is the Year of the Tiger – by the next one in 2022 we might be living in a world without tigers.

And then there’s the natural environment. An unbelievable 50% of Borneo’s jungle has been cut down already and one of the main culprits is palm oil, which is found in a large number of everyday products, from biscuits and ice cream to shampoo. In order to meet the demand we have for these products in our supermarkets, the jungle is being cut down.

Deforestation around the globe is responsible for 18% of carbon emissions. And Borneo is home to the orang-utan, and up to half of the world’s orang-utan population has already been lost due to threats such as deforestation.

WWF is already working with producers and suppliers to ensure that palm oil is grown in a sustainable way. Earth Hour is a chance to show your support and demand that these issues are tackled on a global level and climate change is put to the top of the agenda.

How you can help

There are three main ways you can help make Earth Hour 2010 a success. Firstly, you can sign up and switch off. If this means turning off the lights in your house and having a candle-lit supper or game of Monopoly to show you’re support, then that’s great. If it also means being able to turn off company lights, external building lights and influence a major switch off, please do. Of course, if you happen to live in an iconic monument that would create a real media buzz as it plunged into darkness, let WWF know and they’ll come and film you doing it!

Second is to tell everyone you know about Earth Hour and encourage them to do the same. Again, this might be your personal email address book, or it might be your customer database that can be emailed on behalf of WWF to spread the word and tell everyone that you’re signed up.

And thirdly, you could put one of the Earth Hour banner ads on your website, Tweet about it, put an Earth Hour countdown clock on your Facebook page, mention Earth Hour in your blog… For any help with switch offs, banner ads or other creative, contact earthhour@openfundraising.com and they’ll give you exactly what you need to shout about your support even louder.

And the Earth Hour website will keep you updated with celebrity auctions, iconic switch offs, suggestions for what to do when the lights are off, and YouTube clips to show you how much is going on around the world to support Earth Hour 2010.

Sign up, switch off and show your support.

Happy Earth Hour, it’s great to have you on board.