If you notice things get a little darker Saturday at 8:30 PM, don’t worry, it’s probably due to the annual Earth Hour event.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund, it’s held on the last Saturday in March to raise awareness of taking actions on Global Climate Change.  This is done by asking households and businesses to turn off any of their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour.

While the gesture is largely symbolic, it seems a noble goal and the target is for one billion participants worldwide.  Each year more cities participate, and I believe Orlando will be one of them this year.

Sydney, Australia also participates and it’s estimated that their energy savings for this one hour event is the equivalent of taking 46,000 cars off of the road for one hour.

Critics say this is the energy equivalent to zero, and there may even be a net power loss due to all of the electrical startup after the event.

There’s probably no harm in the organized event, and I think raised environmental awareness is probably a good thing.

If nothing else, you should be able to gaze at the stars in the night sky with less light pollution.

Just don’t trip down the stairs or fall off of your sundeck while doing so.

Happy Earth Hour – J. Daniel.