No 513
Monday, 31st March, 2014
Tel: 96 673 0057
MEDITERRANEAN FACING INCREASED TRENDS OF EXTREME W EATHER
In a weekend when we force our own climate change upon ourselves, as Daylight Saving Time begins, putting the clocks forward one hour, we also celebrated another phenomenon around the globe, as the planet went dark for an hour in recognition of how the planet and our climate is changing around us, and the risks posed if we continue to ignore this growing problem. At 20:30 local time on Saturday, the lights were switched off on numerous iconic buildings around the globe. The Sydney Opera House in Australia, where it all began in 2007, the Empire State building in New York, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham palace in the UK, the City of
Arts and Science in Valencia and the Palace in Madrid, all dimming their lights for an hour, with more than 7,000 cities in 157 countries taking part, along with millions of individuals. The idea of this event is the now annual occurrence of Earth Hour, “a worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, which is organised by WWF”, with the aim of “encouraging an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world”. In Orihuela, the town hall had announced their intention to join in the concept of Earth Hour, by switching off the lights on municipal buildings for Earth Hour, with the Los Verdes of Torrevieja urging the government team there to take part. The Zenia Boulevard also joined in, switching off their lights, all joining in on a local level with a global concept that matters to us all. Continued on Page 2