WWF's Earth Hour turns off lights in Italian squares and monuments

Earth Hour, the global event launched by WWF in 2007 in Sydney, involves citizens and institutions turning off lights for one hour as a symbolic gesture against climate change, distinct from Italy's M'illumino di meno which focuses on energy savings. In Italy, over 400 municipalities participate on March 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 PM, darkening hundreds of institutional buildings, museums, and monuments including Rome's MAXXI, Colosseum, and St. Peter's Basilica; Turin's Mole Antonelliana; Verona's Arena; and Venice's Piazza San Marco. The article links the protest to political insensitivity, citing US President Donald Trump's proposed 31% cut to environmental funding and a potential 'sixth mass extinction' caused by human activity. A gallery of artists engaged with environmental themes is presented: Joseph Beuys' 7000 Oaks planted in 1982 at the Fridericianum in Kassel; Olafur Eliasson's Ice Watch; Pascale-Marthine Tayou's plastic-bag tree; Superflex's biogas device; Pinar Yoldas' artificial ecosystem species; Jorge & Lucy Orta's processual machines; Michel Blazy's organic contaminations; Andrea Caretto and Raffaella Spagna's experimental systems; Piero Gilardi's interactive sculptures; and two winners of the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016: Sara Lindström's apocalyptic shot of Alberta wildfires and Luke Massey's image of a peregrine falcon on a Chicago balcony, highlighting endangered wildlife.