International landmarks went dark Saturday as lights were
switched off in thousands of cities around the world for "Earth
Hour," a global call for action on climate change. Hundreds of
millions of people were asked to turn off non-essential lights
at landmarks, businesses and homes from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
local time in each of the world's time zones. Brazilians
celebrated the start of Earth Hour Saturday with a ceremony in
Rio de Janeiro in which officials turned off a giant light
switch to darken major landmarks for 60 minutes. It was the
fourth annual Earth Hour to be organized by the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), which said global participation in this year's event
jumped to 126 countries from 88 nations last year. The goal was
the same as before, to raise public awareness about the threat
of climate change. Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc
says the more people are involved, the more politicians will
take notice. Minc says consumer actions can make companies
change and such actions already have p