"The initiative involves 7,000 cities across 172 countries."

"The lights are being switched off around the world at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, to mark the 10th annual Earth Hour, and to draw attention to climate change.

The initiative began in Australia in 2007 as a grass roots gesture by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia against man-made carbon dioxide emissions linked to a warming planet.

In 2017, it will involve the switching off of electric lights for an hour in 7,000 cities across 172 countries, at 8:30 p.m. local time, with the aim of highlighting the need to act on climate change, and saving a few megawatts of power in the process."

Peter Gosnell reports for Reuters March 25, 2017. [2]