Earth Hour: Lights go out for the planet

Activists at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. Photo / AP

Cities around the world marked Earth Hour by turning off lights in a call for global action on climate change.

Earth Hour, spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund, calls for greater awareness and more sparing use of resources, especially fossil fuels that produce carbon gases and lead to global warming. Beginning in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has spread to more than 180 countries.

The Willis Tower in Chicago is partially powered down for Earth Hour. Photo / AP

In Hong Kong, major buildings along Victoria Harbour turned off their non-essential lights. The City of Lights also turned off the Eiffel Tower's nightly twinkle.

In Italy, public buildings and historical monuments in 400 cities participated in Earth Hour. Some of most emblematic architectural treasures in Spain participated, including the Alhambra palace and La Sagrada Familia basilica.

Lights are off for the global Earth Hour at the 14th-century red brick St. Mary's Basilica in the southern Renaissance city of Krakow, Poland. Photo / AP

In Taipei, Taiwan's capital, the island's tallest building, Taipei 101, joined surrounding buildings in shutting off the lights.

The Acropolis in Athens, the parliament buildings in London, and the Empire State Building in New York took part.

- AP