Last year a group of people in Sydney, Australia started what they call “earth hour.” Earth Hour is a voluntary one hour time period where people and businesses turned off their lights. Over 2.2 million people and over 2,00 businesses turned their lights off last year in Sydney, including the Sydney Opera house. The sponsors (The World Wildlife Federation, Google, Hewlett Packard) hope it sparks thought and discussion about the effects of global warming. As a bit of a reminder, just this week a 160 square mile piece of ice broke off from the antarctic ice shelf and will soon drift into warmer waters and melt. This year’s event has moved beyond Australia and promises to involve many more people. The earth hour is set for 8-9 pm Saturday March 29.