More than 7,000 towns and cities across the globe are plunging themselves into darkness today to mark Earth Hour, an annual event coordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to raise awareness of climate change and other environmental causes.
People are being encouraged to switch off all their lights for an hour from 8.30pm today, local time.
With the difference between time zones meaning world centres like Shanghai and Sydney have already flicked their switches to off, eerie images of these normally bustling metropolises are beginning to appear.
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
Major landmarks are taking part in the event and UK's contribution - launched this morning by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who unveiled a giant light switch outside of the capital's Southbank Centre - will see Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, The London Eye, Edinburgh Castle, Brighton Pier, Durham Cathedral and Windsor Castle all go dark.
WWF estimate that 10million people across the UK will take part and the charity have roped in a host of celebrities to front the campaign, including Amanda Holden, Jack Whitehall, Stephen Fry and Eliza Doolittle.
The Singapore-leg of the campaign also drew in starpower, with stars of upcoming blockbuster The Amazing Spiderman 2, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx, leading ceremonies at the city-state's Marina Bay district.
The comic-book hero Spiderman, played by Garfield in the film, is this year's Earth Hour ambassador.
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.
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
As the time struck 8.30pm, the temple, in Bangkok, was draped in darkness
Hong Kong's stunning waterfront skyline was unrecognisable, 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 AFP.
'We are seeing some really big outcomes.'
Crowds gathered under a pavilion at the West Lake in Hangzhou city, in China's Zhejiang province before Earth Hour struck
The same pavilion was pitch black once the surrounding lights were switched off. The campaign hopes to raise thousands of pounds for environmental causes
Tokyo Tower is illuminated after the lights were switched back on after 60 minutes of darkness to mark Earth Hour
Tokyo Tower was almost invisible against the night sky without its lights
The India Gate in New Delhi in full illumination. It is one of the city's key landmarks when it is brightly lit
The gate melts into the background without the lights to make it stand out
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 projects seeking crowdfunding include a $24,000 effort in the Philippines to bring fibreglass boat technology to coastal communities affected by super typhoon Haiyan in November last year.
In Nepal, $100,000 is being sought for a programme called A Flame Called Hope to provide access to biogas energy for 150 households in the Terai region, reducing the need for wood as fuel and helping protect the habitat of endangered wildlife, according to the Earth Hour website.
Spiderman-2 star Garfield told journalists that he was a personal supporter of the Nepal project.
'What they are doing is turning waste into energy, it's like the cycle of life right there, if only everyone knew how simple it was,' he said.
Shareen Brown, Earth Hour Manager at WWF-UK said: 'The countdown has well and truly begun as millions of people prepare to join the Earth Hour celebrations. From Samoa to Tahiti - and everywhere in between - it’s really inspiring to see that so many people want to take action to protect our beautiful planet.
Malaysia's Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, lit in green before the Earth Hour 2014
The Petronas Towers switch off almost all their lights once the clocks hit 8.30pm local time
'What’s really exciting is the impact that this is having. Last year 10 million people took part in the UK and 82 per cent of those that signed up said they felt inspired to go on to live more sustainably beyond the hour. Globally we also saw the world’s first Earth Hour forest created in Uganda and more than 100,000 people supported a petition on forest legislation in Russia.
'We hope that Earth Hour 2014 inspires more people than ever to do their bit for the planet.'
The first country to take part in this year's event was Samoa, which hit 8.30pm while it was only 6.30am in London. The wave of darkness then followed the world's timezones to sweep through Bangkok, Chicago, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, London, Manila, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto, before finally ending in Tahiti (at 6.30am tomorrow in London).
Earth Hour was launched in Australia in 2007 and has grown to become the world's largest environmentally focused event. Last year, 7,000 towns and cities from 154 countries took part.
It's not just on the streets of the world's towns and cities that Earth Hour is having an impact. Search engine Google is also supporting the campaign by turning its home page black for an hour. The company uses its geo-location capabilities to work out where in the world you are accessing the internet and then, if it's between 8.30pm and 9.30pm local time it shows the special page.
Hollywood stars Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, left, and pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor, right, are just some of the celebrities WWF roped in to support Earth Hour
The China World Trade Center Tower III after the switch off. The World Wide Fund for Nature hopes the campaign will raise awareness of climate change
Google's special home page, which it has turned black to mark Earth Hour
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592304/Lights-everyones-Thousands-cities-towns-world-join-big-switch-annual-green-campaign-Earth-Hour.html#ixzz2xNB9M2mW
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