Global warming irreversible but Earth Hour can buy us time

Events such as Earth Hour will not reverse global warming. It can however buy our planet some precious time, a world-renowned scientist and environment crusader, David Suzuki says.

“When individuals do something beneficial for the environment - turning off the lights for an hour to show support for a good idea, or using energy-efficient appliances,” David Suzuki said. “They are expressing a bold statement about their values.” Suzuki’s comment comes on the eve of Earth Hour, in what has become a global annual environmental friendly event. Earth Hour idea is simple. Everyone is to flick off lights and non-essential appliances for an hour. Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. For more than a decade now David Suzuki, a staunch environment campaigner, has been saying that the environmental issue is a political issue of our time. Speaking with CBC’s Ian Hanomansingh, Suzuki gave tips on conserving energy and urged on the need of political leadership for implementing sound environmental policies. Suzuki also said Canadians are far ahead of politicians when it comes to fighting climate change. The bad news is that our so called leaders in business and government aren't interested, they just want to keep doing things the same old way, Suzuki added. This time around, the global call for action is mainly directed to negotiators who need to reach agreement on a new global deal on climate change at a UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December. The last global accord, the Kyoto Protocol, is set to expire in 2012. This year, Canadians in about 150 communities, including Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, have pledged to turn off their lights for 60 minutes at 8.30 p.m. local time on March 28. National sites will also go dark, including Toronto's CN Tower. Grammy-winning singer Nelly Furtado will entertain Earth Hour partygoers at Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square, starting at 6:45 p.m. Electric power for the event will be supplied by Bullfrog Power, a company that uses emission-free sources like wind and water.