Dubai, Dubai's tallest tower powers off for Earth Hour

The Burj Khalifa can be seen miles away, especially at night when the needle-like structure glitters over downtown Dubai. But the world's tallest man made structure went dark on March 31 to mark Earth Hour a worldwide event that aims to raise awareness on climate change. Amateur footage also captured an unlit Dubai Marina, its skyscrapers casting darkness over the pier. What started off as a one-city event in 2007 in Australia, Earth Hour has swelled into an international environmental campaign organized by the World Wildlife Fund, to increase awareness on climate change by demonstrating against carbon pollution. The premise is simple: people are asked to switch off their non-essential lights for one hour, be it in their homes, offices or landmark structures. While the Pacific island of Samoa kicked off the event, in the city of origin, Sydney's international icons, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turned off their lights too. West-bound to Asia, Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour went dim, as did the distinctive 2008 Beijing Olympics stadium, the Bird Nest. In Shanghai, people gathered to see the Pearl Tower amongst other skyscrapers in the Chinese industrial hub go dark. Malaysia's Petronas Towers switched its blue radiance off as soon as the clock struck 8:30pm local time to mark Earth Hour. Over to Europe, the iconic Eiffel Tower in the French capital of Paris, also known as the city of lights, switched off for five minutes. In Greece, the ancient temples of the Acropolis and Parthenon also cast darkness in Athens. Auckland, Tokyo, Mumbai, New York City and Rio de Janeiro were also amongst the 6,400 cities that participated this year, comparing to 5,251 cities last year, with new participants such as Libya and Iraq. By Noora Faraj Al Arabiya with Agencies