අන්ධකාරයෙන්_ගිලිණු_මිහිකත
Earth Hour 2014
Lights went off in thousands of cities and towns across the world for the annual Earth Hour campaign, which is aiming to raise money via the internet for local environmental projects.
Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge were among the first landmarks around the world to dim their lights for 60 minutes during Saturday's event, organised by conservation group WWF.An estimated 7,000 cities and towns from New Zealand to New York were taking part.
Hong Kong's stunning waterfront skyline was unrecognisable on Saturday evening, with the city's tallest skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre, stripped of the vast light show usually wrapped around its 118 stories.
Blazing neon signs advertising some of the world's largest brands were shut off, leaving the view of the heavily vertical southern Chinese city peppered only with tiny lights from buildings' interiors.Earth Hour partnered with payments giant PayPal to allow donors to contribute to specific projects from Russia and India to Canada and Indonesia, using Asian fundraising site Crowdonomic.
Earth Hour chief executive Andy Ridley said before the lights went off in Singapore that the event had moved beyond symbolism to concrete action."If you want to get real social change you need to have symbolism," he told the AFP news agency. "We are seeing some really big outcomes."
Projects under the "Earth Hour Blue" crowdfunding scheme - which aim to raise more than $650,000 in total - include a turtle centre in Italy and funding for forest rangers in Indonesia.The event is being marked in more than 150 countries, organisers said, estimating that thousands of cities and towns would have taken part by the time the ceremonies began in Singapore.
Earth Hour will see other landmarks including the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow switch off their lights for an hour starting at 8:30 pm local time on Saturday.
Landmark: London's Houses of Parliament before the lights were switched off at 8.30pm local time, to raise awareness of climate change and man's impact on the world.
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The dark forces of politics: Countries around the world have plunged into darkness for Earth Hour - before Britain had its turn with the Houses of Parliament.
Where's it gone? Paris's iconic Eiffel Tower had its lights shut down for the global event - though much of the rest of the French capital carried on around it.
Plunged into darkness: People look on with candles as Berlin's Brandenberg Gate loses its floodlighting for Earth Hour. The campaign sees nations switch lights off at 8.30pm.
Lit up: The Brandberg Gate before the lights were switched off. The site is a symbol of unity after being next to the divide between East and West until 1989.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it: St Peter's Basilica in Rome's Vatican City loses its floodlighting to mark Earth Hour.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it: St Peter's Basilica in Rome's Vatican City loses its floodlighting to mark Earth Hour.
Spot the Acropolis: The famous ruins are plunged into darkness surrounded by the city of Athens as the government joins a global statement about emissions.
Light of the gods: How the Acropolis hill, with the famous Parthenon temple in the centre, would normally look at night in the Greek capital.
Darkness: Another view of the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis in the Greek capital Athens.
Illuminated: The Greek ruins lit up with floodlights. Earth Hour is also seeing London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye switch off their lights
Lights out: The iconic colourful onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral (right) and the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin (left) are plunged into darkness in Moscow.
Landmarks: How the sites in Red Square looked before the switch-off, which is happening country-by-country across the world to raise awareness of climate change.
Darkness: Red Square in Moscow The annual event is co-ordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature and strikes every country at 8.30pm local time.
Normal scene: How Moscow's Red Square, with Lenin's mausoleum in the foreground, looked before the lights were switched off at 8.30pm Russian time.
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai Tower and Jin Mao Tower in the city's central financial district before the switch off.
The same scene, just moments later, as Shanghai marked Earth Hour by switching off the lights in the city's financial district.
Before and after: The Azadi (Freedom) tower is illuminated (left) before the lights were turned off (right) during the worldwide Earth Hour in Tehran, Iran.
Sydney Opera House before the 8.30pm switch off time. The view across the harbour is one of the world's most famous skylines.
Moments later, the scene was almost unrecognisable as the area was plunged into darkness.
The Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan Buddhist temple, in Bangkok, before its lights were turned off to mark Earth Hour.
Lights went off in thousands of cities and towns across the world for the annual Earth Hour campaign, which is aiming to raise money via the internet for local environmental projects.
Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge were among the first landmarks around the world to dim their lights for 60 minutes during Saturday's event, organised by conservation group WWF.An estimated 7,000 cities and towns from New Zealand to New York were taking part.
Hong Kong's stunning waterfront skyline was unrecognisable on Saturday evening, with the city's tallest skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre, stripped of the vast light show usually wrapped around its 118 stories.
Blazing neon signs advertising some of the world's largest brands were shut off, leaving the view of the heavily vertical southern Chinese city peppered only with tiny lights from buildings' interiors.Earth Hour partnered with payments giant PayPal to allow donors to contribute to specific projects from Russia and India to Canada and Indonesia, using Asian fundraising site Crowdonomic.
Earth Hour chief executive Andy Ridley said before the lights went off in Singapore that the event had moved beyond symbolism to concrete action."If you want to get real social change you need to have symbolism," he told the AFP news agency. "We are seeing some really big outcomes."
Projects under the "Earth Hour Blue" crowdfunding scheme - which aim to raise more than $650,000 in total - include a turtle centre in Italy and funding for forest rangers in Indonesia.The event is being marked in more than 150 countries, organisers said, estimating that thousands of cities and towns would have taken part by the time the ceremonies began in Singapore.
Earth Hour will see other landmarks including the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow switch off their lights for an hour starting at 8:30 pm local time on Saturday.
Landmark: London's Houses of Parliament before the lights were switched off at 8.30pm local time, to raise awareness of climate change and man's impact on the world.
.
The dark forces of politics: Countries around the world have plunged into darkness for Earth Hour - before Britain had its turn with the Houses of Parliament.
Where's it gone? Paris's iconic Eiffel Tower had its lights shut down for the global event - though much of the rest of the French capital carried on around it.
Plunged into darkness: People look on with candles as Berlin's Brandenberg Gate loses its floodlighting for Earth Hour. The campaign sees nations switch lights off at 8.30pm.
Lit up: The Brandberg Gate before the lights were switched off. The site is a symbol of unity after being next to the divide between East and West until 1989.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it: St Peter's Basilica in Rome's Vatican City loses its floodlighting to mark Earth Hour.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it: St Peter's Basilica in Rome's Vatican City loses its floodlighting to mark Earth Hour.
Spot the Acropolis: The famous ruins are plunged into darkness surrounded by the city of Athens as the government joins a global statement about emissions.
Light of the gods: How the Acropolis hill, with the famous Parthenon temple in the centre, would normally look at night in the Greek capital.
Darkness: Another view of the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis in the Greek capital Athens.
Illuminated: The Greek ruins lit up with floodlights. Earth Hour is also seeing London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye switch off their lights
Lights out: The iconic colourful onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral (right) and the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin (left) are plunged into darkness in Moscow.
Landmarks: How the sites in Red Square looked before the switch-off, which is happening country-by-country across the world to raise awareness of climate change.
Darkness: Red Square in Moscow The annual event is co-ordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature and strikes every country at 8.30pm local time.
Normal scene: How Moscow's Red Square, with Lenin's mausoleum in the foreground, looked before the lights were switched off at 8.30pm Russian time.
Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai Tower and Jin Mao Tower in the city's central financial district before the switch off.
The same scene, just moments later, as Shanghai marked Earth Hour by switching off the lights in the city's financial district.
Before and after: The Azadi (Freedom) tower is illuminated (left) before the lights were turned off (right) during the worldwide Earth Hour in Tehran, Iran.
Sydney Opera House before the 8.30pm switch off time. The view across the harbour is one of the world's most famous skylines.
Moments later, the scene was almost unrecognisable as the area was plunged into darkness.
The Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan Buddhist temple, in Bangkok, before its lights were turned off to mark Earth Hour.
