Eighteen years ago, on this day, March 31st, 2007,
2007 FIRST ‘EARTH Hour’ – WWF Sydney
(see also 2009- http://www.climaticoanalysis.org/post/australia-in-climate-change-blackout/ and
http://www.climaticoanalysis.org/post/australia-in-climate-change-blackout/
2007 A recent example of intellectual corruption at the highest levels of Australian business was manifest when the Sydney Morning Herald teamed up with WWF to promote ‘Earth Hour’ on Saturday 31 March last. The idea was that, at 7:30 pm, everyone in Sydney should turn off their lights and shut down their TVs, and so on, in order to save the planet for an hour.
Ray Evans on 27 April 2007
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 384ppm. As of 2025 it is 427ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was
Earth Hour, a typical WWF stunt in Sydney where people get to feel virtuous for doing fuck all. The theory goes that these are baby steps that prod people to more and bigger action. It’s utter bullshit.
See also March 22 blog post.
What I think we can learn from this is the world is run by utter bullshit, and the world will drown in its own shit from humans because the existing systems can’t absorb the crap.
What happened next
I don’t know that they still do Earth Hour, because it depends on a particular vibe, and I don’t think anyone’s paying any attention. It’s the equivalent of “Buy Nothing Day.”
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
March 31, 1973 – Protest in Piccadilly Circus
March 31, 1998 – another report about #climate and business in the UK
March 31, 1998 – two business-friendly climate events in UK and Australia