世界各地熄灯响应"地球一小时"

Europe's best known landmarks - including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome's Colosseum - fell dark Saturday, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event.

In the United States, the lights went out at the Empire State Building in New York, the National Cathedral in Washington, and the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.

Millions were expected to turn off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 pm in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns and to call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This year's was the fourth annual Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund.

"I think it's great to see that hundreds of millions of people share this common value of lowering our carbon footprint," said Dan Forman, a spokesman for WWF in Washington.

Some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries - starting with the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand - voluntarily switched off Saturday to reduce energy consumption, though traffic lights and other safety features were unaffected, organizers said.

"We have everyone from Casablanca to the safari camps of Namibia and Tanzania taking part," said Greg Bourne, CEO of WWF in Australia, which started Earth Hour in 2007 in Sydney before it spread to every continent.

"It's saying to our politicians - you can't give up on climate change," said WWF spokeswoman Debbie Chapman in the UK.

Buckingham Palace and the British Parliament building went dark to support the campaign, along with other famed London landmarks including St. Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

Moscow's iconic and imposing State University, perched on a hill overlooking the city, all but disappeared into the darkness as the city took part in the protest. The gigantic Luzhniki Stadium nearby also went black, as did the skyscraping Ukraina Hotel downtown. Restaurants in Vladivostok held a so-called Candle Evening, promoting Earth Hour as a chance for romance.

Researchers at the Davis Station, in Antarctica, also joined the campaign - shutting off lights at the base.

Last year, some 88 cities took part in Earth Hour, which is backed by the United Nations as well as global corporations, noNPRofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities.

上周六，世界各地纷纷熄灯响应“地球一小时”、抵御全球气候变化的活动。悉尼歌剧院、北京故宫，以及埃菲尔铁塔、大本钟和罗马圆形大剧场等欧洲著名地标建筑相继熄灯。

美国纽约的帝国大厦、华盛顿的国家大教堂、亚特兰大的可口可乐公司总部等建筑也在当晚熄灭了灯光。

“地球一小时”活动于上周六晚8点30分开始，当晚预计有数百万人关掉电灯和电器一小时以示响应。该活动旨在加强人们的环保意识，并呼吁制定一个减少温室气体排放的有约束力协议。今年是世界自然基金会第四次举办“地球一小时”活动。

世界自然基金会华盛顿分会的发言人丹．弗尔曼说：“看到全球亿万民众都持有减少碳足迹的共同价值观，真是件好事。”

据“地球一小时”活动组织者介绍，从新西兰海岸遥远的查塔姆岛开始，全球120多个国家的约4000个城市自愿参与了上周六的活动，以减少能源消耗，但交通信号灯和其它安全装置未受影响。

世界自然基金会澳大利亚分会的首席执行官格雷格．伯恩说：“从卡萨布兰卡到纳米比亚和坦桑尼亚的旅行露营地，每个人都参与到我们的活动中来。”“地球一小时”活动于2007年在悉尼首次发起，之后发展为一项全球性的活动。

世界自然基金会英国分会的女发言人黛比．查普曼说：“这是在向政治家们发出呼吁：你们不能放弃对抑制气候变化的努力。”

英国白金汉宫和议会大厦于当晚熄灯支持该活动，伦敦其它一些著名建筑如圣保罗大教堂和艾伯特皇家音乐厅以及苏格兰的爱丁堡城堡也加入到熄灯行动中来。

莫斯科当晚也响应了该活动，坐落于山上俯瞰全市的标志性宏伟建筑莫斯科大学消失在夜色中。附近的卢日尼基大体育场和位于市中心的高层建筑乌克兰酒店也熄灭了灯光。海参崴的几家饭店则举办起了“烛光之夜”活动，借“地球一小时”之机营造浪漫气氛。

南极洲戴维斯站的科考人员也参与了活动，他们于当晚熄灭了驻地的灯。

去年，约有88个城市参加“地球一小时”活动，该活动受到了联合国、全球企业、非盈利性团体、学校、科学家和社会名流们的支持。

Vocabulary:

binding：having power to bind or oblige; obligatory（必须遵守的；有法律约束力的）

World Wildlife Fund：世界自然基金会（简称WWF，旧称World Wildlife Fund——世界野生生物基金会，现在更名World Wide Fund for Nature），是世界最大的、经验最丰富的独立性非政府环境保护机构。