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Europe's best known landmarks - including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome's Colosseum - fell dark Saturday, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event.
In the United States, the lights went out at the Empire State Building in New York, the National Cathedral in Washington, and the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.
Millions were expected to turn off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 pm in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns and to call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This year's was the fourth annual Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund.
"I think it's great to see that hundreds of millions of people share this common value of lowering our carbon footprint," said Dan Forman, a spokesman for WWF in Washington.
Some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries - starting with the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand - voluntarily switched off Saturday to reduce energy consumption, though traffic lights and other safety features were unaffected, organizers said.
"We have everyone from Casablanca to the safari camps of Namibia and Tanzania taking part," said Greg Bourne, CEO of WWF in Australia, which started Earth Hour in 2007 in Sydney before it spread to every continent.
"It's saying to our politicians - you can't give up on climate change," said WWF spokeswoman Debbie Chapman in the UK.
Buckingham Palace and the British Parliament building went dark to support the campaign, along with other famed London landmarks including St. Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.
Moscow's iconic and imposing State University, perched on a hill overlooking the city, all but disappeared into the darkness as the city took part in the protest. The gigantic Luzhniki Stadium nearby also went black, as did the skyscraping Ukraina Hotel downtown. Restaurants in Vladivostok held a so-called Candle Evening, promoting Earth Hour as a chance for romance.
Researchers at the Davis Station, in Antarctica, also joined the campaign - shutting off lights at the base.
Last year, some 88 cities took part in Earth Hour, which is backed by the United Nations as well as global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities.
(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)
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(Agencies)
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上周六，世界各地紛紛熄燈響應“地球一小時”、抵御全球氣候變化的活動。悉尼歌劇院、北京故宮，以及埃菲爾鐵塔、大本鐘和羅馬圓形大劇場等歐洲著名地標建筑相繼熄燈。
美國紐約的帝國大廈、華盛頓的國家大教堂、亞特蘭大的可口可樂公司總部等建筑也在當晚熄滅了燈光。
“地球一小時”活動于上周六晚8點30分開始，當晚預計有數百萬人關掉電燈和電器一小時以示響應。該活動旨在加強人們的環保意識，并呼吁制定一個減少溫室氣體排放的有約束力協議。今年是世界自然基金會第四次舉辦“地球一小時”活動。
世界自然基金會華盛頓分會的發言人丹?弗爾曼說：“看到全球億萬民眾都持有減少碳足跡的共同價值觀，真是件好事。”
據“地球一小時”活動組織者介紹，從新西蘭海岸遙遠的查塔姆島開始，全球120多個國家的約4000個城市自愿參與了上周六的活動，以減少能源消耗，但交通信號燈和其它安全裝置未受影響。
世界自然基金會澳大利亞分會的首席執行官格雷格?伯恩說：“從卡薩布蘭卡到納米比亞和坦桑尼亞的旅行露營地，每個人都參與到我們的活動中來。”“地球一小時”活動于2007年在悉尼首次發起，之后發展為一項全球性的活動。
世界自然基金會英國分會的女發言人黛比?查普曼說：“這是在向政治家們發出呼吁：你們不能放棄對抑制氣候變化的努力。”
英國白金漢宮和議會大廈于當晚熄燈支持該活動，倫敦其它一些著名建筑如圣保羅大教堂和艾伯特皇家音樂廳以及蘇格蘭的愛丁堡城堡也加入到熄燈行動中來。
莫斯科當晚也響應了該活動，坐落于山上俯瞰全市的標志性宏偉建筑莫斯科大學消失在夜色中。附近的盧日尼基大體育場和位于市中心的高層建筑烏克蘭酒店也熄滅了燈光。海參崴的幾家飯店則舉辦起了“燭光之夜”活動，借“地球一小時”之機營造浪漫氣氛。
南極洲戴維斯站的科考人員也參與了活動，他們于當晚熄滅了駐地的燈。
去年，約有88個城市參加“地球一小時”活動，該活動受到了聯合國、全球企業、非盈利性團體、學校、科學家和社會名流們的支持。
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（中國日報網英語點津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍）
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