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Earth Hour 2008 in Toronto

Date: 04-Apr-08
Author: Andrew Yee

On March 29 between 8 and 9 pm local time the 2008 Earth Hour global campaign took place, with an aim of raising the awareness of energy conservation. Many residents and businesses in Toronto turned off non-essential lighting during the event. Electricity consumption in that hour dropped by 8.7 percent in Toronto and approximately 5 percent across the rest of the province of Ontario.

As darkness arrives on any given night, the skyline of Toronto is transformed to a colourful nightscape; as seen in the top image taken on September 2, 2007 from Centre Island. The most prominent structures in the skyline are the 553-meter tall (1815-ft.) CN Tower and the Rogers Centre domed stadium to its left.

But during the Earth Hour, the skyline looked subdued in the bottom image. The faint glow of the tower and the stadium came from reflection of streetlights. Both images were captured using the same camera and lens settings. The exposure time of both images is 15 seconds long.

Top: Toronto skyline on September 2, 2007. Bottom: Earth Hour skyline on March 29, 2008 at 8:59:46 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Courtesy: Andrew Yee
(Click on image for larger version)

As of 2007 Canada joined U.S. in adopting an early switchover to daylight saving time, thus much of the Earth Hour happened in twilight. The visual impact of the event was not fully realized until the final quarter of the hour.

Earth Hour at 8:21 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Courtesy: Andrew Yee
(Click on image for larger version)

Oops ... a little more than halfway into the Earth Hour, the exterior lighting of the domed stadium accidentally came on. It lasted about four minutes, then the lights were turned off again.

Earth Hour at 8:35 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Courtesy: Andrew Yee
(Click on image for larger version)

Related links:

• Earth Hour
• City of Toronto Earth Hour