全球24个城市响应“熄灯号”

24 cities in ‘Earth Hour’ black-out

Twenty-four cities around the world will fall into shadow next month as homes and businesses turn off the lights to raise awareness about global warming, organizers said Tuesday.

活动组织者于本周二称，全球24个城市将于下个月“陷入黑暗”。因为这些城市的家庭和企业届时将集体熄灯，以引起人们对全球变暖问题的关注。

The “Earth Hour” initiative started in Australia’s biggest city Sydney last year when an estimated 2.2 million people flicked the switch – leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbour Bridge blacked out.

“地球一小时”活动于去年在澳大利亚最大的城市悉尼首次举行。当时全市约有220万居民集体熄灯，没有灯光的悉尼歌剧院沐浴在月光里，海湾大桥也熄灯响应。

Organizer Andy Ridley said Sydney’s 60 minutes of darkness generated huge interest around the world and 23 other cities from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East had now signed up to be part of the 2008 event.

活动组织者安迪。里利德说，悉尼的“熄灯一小时”活动引起了世界各地的极大兴趣。目前，亚太，北美、欧洲以及中东城市的23个城市已报名参加今年的活动。

The eight latest cities to join “Earth Hour” are Atlanta, San Francisco and Phoenix in the US; Thailand’s capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland.

最新响应的八个城市包括：美国的亚特兰大、旧金山和菲尼克斯、泰国首都曼谷、加拿大的渥太华、温哥华和蒙特利尔，以及爱尔兰的首都柏林。

Ridley said he expected the “Earth Hour” concept, which is managed by the conservation group WWF, to extend beyond the borders of these countries on the scheduled start time of 8pm local time on Saturday, March 29.

由“世界自然基金会”发起的“地球一小时”活动于当地时间3月29日晚八点准时开始。里德利表示，他希望这一理念能越地国界，影响更多的国家。