At 8:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, some of the world's most recognizable monuments—including Paris's Eiffel Tower and Barcelona's Sagrada Família—faded into darkness. The synchronized blackout was part of the annual Earth Hour initiative, a global movement designed to shine a spotlight on nature loss and climate change.
Spearheaded by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the event calls on individuals, communities, and businesses worldwide to switch off their non-essential lights for exactly 60 minutes. The symbolic, hour-long gesture is meant to spark critical conversations about environmental conservation and the urgent need to protect our planet.
What is now a massive worldwide phenomenon originally began as a single grassroots event in Sydney, Australia, back in 2007. Since then, Earth Hour has grown exponentially, uniting millions of people across continents in a shared moment of reflection on humanity's ecological footprint.