THE streets of Egypt went relatively dark for one hour on Saturday as the major cities switched off their lights to mark "Earth Hour", an annual international event created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), held on the last Saturday of March. The Ministry of the Environment asked households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change and saving energy consumption. Households as well as public and private institutions in major Egyptian cities turned off their lights from 8:30pm to 9:30pm in a "Vote for Earth" campaign. Electricity was switched off in certainlandmarks and popular historic sites such as the Cairo Tower, Giza Pyramids, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, pharaonic templesand the Opera House for one hour in a message to the public that excessive electricity use contributes to global warming, Minister of Environment Maged George said in press remarks. He noted that as certain street lamps and public agencies in Cairo will go dark. George, who urged the Egyptians to join the event voluntarily, has addressed the authorities concerned to ensure a smooth procedure. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. By last year, the message had grown into a global movement with 50 million people switching off their lights.
