Earth Hour - The Hour of Reckoning

75 countries including India have committed to participate in WWF’s Earth Hour in 2009. The campaign, which hopes to reach out to more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, encourage individuals, businesses and governments to switch off lights for just one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30pm to convey their support for action on climate change. Cities already committed to Earth Hour include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Oslo, Cape Town, Warsaw, Lisbon, Singapore, Istanbul, Mexico City, Toronto, Dubai and Copenhagen.

2009 is a critical year in terms of the political decisions that will be made at global climate negotiations in December 2009. Earth Hour, aims to highlight the voice of the people of the world and represent a visual mandate for meaningful policy on climate change.

Actor & Filmmaker Aamir Khan joins Earth Hour 2009, as the face of the campaign in India

"Climate Change is undoubtedly and regrettably, the biggest immediate long-term environmental challenge we face. A failure to come to sound policy outcomes on climate change will not only have a negative environmental impact but also social and economic consequences for all of us. Stand up and join us in the fight against climate change. Support Earth Hour."

Aamir Khan, Noted Bollywood actor & filmmaker

Earth Day Photo Contest Winners Announced By EPA

Each year, for Earth Day, EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) holds a photo contest. We want to see how citizens of the world would show EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment. The winners are announced on Earth Day.

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) unveiled the 22 winning entries in its photography contest on the theme “Cherish the Environment, Care for the Earth.”

The photographs demonstrate that love for one's surroundings does not take much and can be done as part of everyday life, the EPA said.

“EPA officials, photographers and environmental experts conducted several rounds of selection before picking the winners from a total of 890,” informed Liu Tsong-yung, director-general of the EPA's department of comprehensive planning.

The winners for Year 2008 for each category are:

• Enjoying the Environment : Richard Burkart, Battle Creek, MI
• Protecting the Environment : Julie Larsen Maher, Sleepy Hollow, NY
• Nature and Wildlife : Alex Saberi, London, England

How does it work?

1. Enter one photo in each category:
   • Enjoying the environment
   • Protecting the environment
   • Nature and wildlife
2. EPA selects 10 finalists within each category
3. You score the finalists
4. Highest average score in each category wins
5. Winning photos and finalists get linked from the EPA home page for a week after Earth Day.

Each year's Earth Day photo contest is announced in March and scoring ends just before Earth Day, April 22 of the year.