Most countries of the world observed Earth Hour 2018 on March 24 by turning off their non-essential electric lights for one hour. Taking that important step, famous historical monuments and popular landmarks across the world also dimmed their lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on Saturday. The message of the 2018 Earth Hour was 'more action is needed on climate change'.

The movement of the Earth Hour began in 2007 in Australia which has spread to become a global campaign. Initiatives are taken to switch off or dim non-essential lights are turned off at 8:30 PM on a specific day towards the end of March raising awareness climate change and global warming. This year, 180 countries observed Earth Hour 2018.

India observing Earth Hour 2018

Ahead of Earth Hour, political leaders, actors, and other celebrities took to social media campaigning for the initiative.

Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Kerala Governor P Sathasivam, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, actor Amitabh Bachchan were among many who urged people to contribute to saving the planet while promising to do so.

In Delhi, lights were put out at places like war memorial of India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan, North and South Block of the Central Secretariat from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. In Mumbai, the Gateway of India also dimmed their lights.

Several countries observing Earth Hour 2018

In many countries, households and several organisations plunged into darkness to observe the Hour.

Countries including Australia, United States of America, Egypt and France, also observed the hour by dimming the lights of their world-known structures.

New York's Empire State Building and Pyramids of Egypt and, the Eiffel Tower also participated in the event.

Popular buildings which also supported Earth Hour included Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands hotel and resort, Skytree in Tokyo, Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Other global landmarks include Beijing's Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Coliseum in Rome, the Pyramids of Egypt and New York’s Empire State Building.

International fast food chain Mc Donald also participated in the noble cause by dimming their lights in various outlets in the United States with the placard on their doors which read, "Our lights will be out, but we’re still open to serve you this Earth Hour".

The 11th Earth Hour supported for biodiversity focusing on forests, oceans and wildlife conservation. In Jordan, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature arranged 11,440 candles on a hilltop establishing a Guinness World Record for the largest candle mosaic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2018 01:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).