Earth Day, which is today, should by definition have 24
earth hours. But as it happens, Earth Hour has already been celebrated in 2017
on March 25. We missed it. And the reason for that is the confusion between the
hour and the day. Those two words represent quite different environmental
festivals.
During Earth Hour, which extends from 8:30 to 9:30 pm, all
unessential lights must be turned off. The festival began in Australia and was
first celebrated on March 31, 2007, a Saturday. Since then Earth Hour is usually on the last Saturday of
March. Our first celebration was on March 29, 2008—and we remember it
distinctly—the first global celebration, on that day from 8 to 9 pm local time.
The day and year was vague in our minds and took a fair amount of research to
pin-point—but we were there, at our dining room table, a single candle separating
us and doing is feeble best to contribute its carbon dioxide to Global Warming.
That evening television brought coverage of lights going out at 8 local time as
darkness covered the planet. And the feeling of unity across the earth was
almost palpable.
Earth Day, by contrast, is celebrated on April 22. The first
year was 1970. These days 193 countries across the planet celebrate the day
under the coordination of the Earth Day Network.
Having missed the Earth Hour on March 29, we intend to
celebrate it tonight at our house. Lights out at 8:30. We will endure an hour
in darkness before rushing back to CNN and MSNBC to see what monstrosities DJT
has managed in that hour of darkness: the Invasion of Tibet, perhaps, or the
repeal of the U.S. Constitution by next
Wednesday? One has to know these things in advance, you know.
