Environmental campaign "Earth Hour". Earth Hour Myths: Power Surge, Crime and Uselessness

Mysterious and Magic world Astronomy has attracted the attention of mankind since ancient times. People raised their heads up to the starry sky and wondered eternal questions about why the stars change their position, why day and night come, why somewhere a blizzard howls, and somewhere in the desert it’s plus 50...

Movement of the luminaries and calendars

Most of the planets in the solar system revolve around themselves. At the same time, they all make revolutions around the Sun. Some do it quickly and swiftly, others slowly and solemnly. Planet Earth is no exception; it is constantly moving in outer space. Even in ancient times, people, not knowing the reasons and mechanism of this movement, noticed a certain general pattern and began to compile calendars. Even then, humanity was interested in the question of what speed the Earth revolves around the Sun.

The sun rises at sunrise

The movement of the Earth around its axis is the Earth's day. And the complete passage of our planet in an ellipsoidal orbit around the star is a calendar year.

If you stand at the North Pole and draw an imaginary axis through the Earth to the South Pole, it turns out that our planet is moving from west to east. Remember, back in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” it is said that “The sun rises at sunrise”? The East always meets Sun rays before the West. That is why New Year in the Far East it occurs earlier than in Moscow.

At the same time, scientists have determined that only two points on our planet are in a static position relative to the North and South Poles.

Crazy speed

All other places on the planet are in perpetual motion. What is the speed of the Earth's revolution around the Sun? At the equator it is highest and reaches 1670 km per hour. Closer to mid-latitudes, for example, in Italy, the speed is already much lower - 1200 km per hour. And the closer to the poles, the smaller and smaller it is.

The period of rotation of the Earth around its axis is 24 hours. That's what scientists say. We call it simpler - a day.

At what speed does the Earth rotate around the Sun?

350 times faster than a racing car

In addition to rotating around its axis, the Earth also makes an elliptical motion around a star called the Sun. At what speed Scientists have long calculated this indicator using complex formulas and calculations. The speed of the Earth's revolution around the Sun is 107 thousand kilometers per hour.

It's hard to even try to imagine these crazy, unrealistic numbers. For example, even the most racing car - 300 kilometers per hour - is 356 times less speed Earth in orbit.

It seems to us that it is rising and rising, that the Earth is motionless, and the luminary is making a circle in the sky. Very for a long time This is exactly what humanity thought, until scientists proved that everything is happening the other way around. Today, even a schoolchild knows what is happening in the world: the planets move smoothly and solemnly around the Sun, and not the other way around. The Earth revolves around the Sun, and not at all as ancient people previously believed.

So, we found out that the rotation speed of the earth around its axis and the Sun is 1670 km per hour (at the equator) and 107 thousand kilometers per hour, respectively. Wow, we're flying!

Solar and sidereal year

A full circle, or rather an ellipsoidal oval, the planet Earth goes around the Sun in 356 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds. Astronomers call these numbers the “astrological year.” Therefore, to the question “What is the frequency of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun?” we answer simply and succinctly: “A year.” This figure remains unchanged, but for some reason it happens to us every four years. leap year, which has one more day.

It’s just that astronomers have long agreed that the extra 5 and “kopecks” hours are not counted every year, but have chosen the number of the astronomical year, which is a multiple of the day. Thus, a year is 365 days. But so that over time there is no failure, so that natural rhythms do not shift in time, once every four years a single extra day appears in the calendar in February. Over the course of 4 years, these quarter days “gather” into a full day - and we celebrate a leap year. Thus, answering the question about what is the frequency of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, feel free to say one year.

In the scientific world there are concepts " solar year" and "sidereal (sidereal) year". The difference between them is approximately 20 minutes and it occurs due to the fact that our planet moves faster in its orbit than the Sun returns to the place that astronomers have determined as the point of the vernal equinox. We We already know the speed of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, and full period The Earth's revolution around the Sun is equal to 1 year.

Days and years on other planets

The nine planets of the solar system have their own “concepts” about speed, what a day is and what an astronomical year is.

The planet Venus, for example, revolves around itself in 243 Earth days. Can you imagine how much you can do there in one day? And how long does the night last?

But on Jupiter the opposite is true. This planet spins around its axis at a gigantic speed and manages to rotate 360 ​​degrees in 9.92 hours.

The Earth's orbital speed around the Sun is a year (365 days), but Mercury's is only 58.6 Earth days. On Mars, the closest planet to Earth, the day lasts almost as long as on Earth - 24 and a half hours, but the year is almost twice as long - 687 days.

The Earth's revolution around the Sun is 365 days. Now let's multiply this figure by 247.7 and get one year on the planet Pluto. A millennium has passed in our country, and on the farthest planet in solar system- only four years.

These are paradoxical values ​​and numbers that are frightening in their scale.

Mysterious ellipse

To understand why the seasons change periodically on planet Earth, why we, in middle lane, and it’s cold in winter, it’s important not only to answer the question of how fast the Earth rotates around the Sun, and along what path. It is also necessary to understand how it does this.

And she does this not in a circle, but in an ellipse. If we draw the Earth's orbit around the Sun, we will see that it is closest to the sun in January, and farthest in July. The closest point in the Earth's orbit is called perihelion, and the farthest point is called aphelion.

Since the earth's axis is not strictly aligned vertical position, and is deflected by approximately 23.4 degrees, and in relation to the ellipsoidal orbit the angle of inclination increases to 66.3 degrees, it turns out that in different positions the Earth exposes different sides to the Sun.

Due to the inclination of the orbit, the Earth turns towards the star with different hemispheres, hence the change in weather. When winter rages in the Northern Hemisphere, hot summer blooms in the Southern Hemisphere. Six months will pass and the situation will change exactly the opposite.

Spin, earthly luminary!

Does the Sun revolve around anything? Of course! There are no absolutely motionless objects in space. All planets, all their satellites, all comets and asteroids are spinning like clockwork. Of course, different celestial bodies and the rotation speed is different, and the angle of inclination of the axis, but still they are always in motion. And the Sun, which is a star, is no exception.

The solar system is not an independent closed space. It is part of a huge spiral galaxy called the Milky Way. It, in turn, includes no less than another 200 billion stars. The sun moves in a circle relative to the center of this galaxy. Scientists also calculated the speed of rotation of the Sun around the axis and the Milky Way galaxy using long-term observations and mathematical formulas.

Today such data is available. Its full cycle of circular motion around milky way The sun takes 226 million years to pass through. In astronomical science, this figure is called the “galactic year.” Moreover, if we imagine the surface of the galaxy as flat, then our star makes slight oscillations, up and down, alternately appearing in the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the Milky Way. The frequency of such fluctuations is 30-35 million years.

Scientists believe that the Sun managed to make 30 full revolutions around the Milky Way during the existence of the Galaxy. Thus, the Sun has lived only 30 galactic years so far. In any case, that's what scientists say.

Most scientists believe that life on Earth began 252 million years ago. Thus, it can be argued that the first living organisms on Earth appeared when the Sun made its 29th revolution around the Milky Way, that is, in the 29th year of its galactic life.

The body and gases move at different speeds

We learned a lot interesting facts. We already know the rate of revolution of the Earth around the Sun, we have found out what the astronomical and galactic year are, at what speed the Earth and the Sun move in their orbits, and now we will determine at what speed the Sun rotates around its axis.

The fact that the Sun rotates was noticed by ancient researchers. Similar spots periodically appeared and disappeared on it, which led to the conclusion that it rotated around an axis. But at what speed? Scientists, having the most modern methods research has been arguing about this for a very long time.

After all, our star has a very complex composition. His body is a solid liquid. Inside is hard core, around which a hot liquid mantle is located. Above it is a hard crust. Plus, the surface of the Sun is shrouded in hot gas, which constantly burns. It is a heavy gas that consists mainly of hydrogen.

So, the body of the Sun itself rotates slowly, but this burning gas rotates quickly.

25 days and 22 years

The outer shell of the Sun makes a complete rotation around its axis in 27 and a half days. Astronomers were able to determine this by observing sunspots. But this is the average. For example, at the equator they rotate faster and rotate around their axis in 25 days. At the poles, the spots move at a speed of 31 to 36 days.

The body of the star itself rotates around its axis in 22.14 years. In general, over a hundred years of earthly life, the Sun will turn around its axis only four and a half times.

Why do scientists study the rotation speed of our star so accurately?

Because it provides answers to many evolutionary questions. After all, the Sun star is the source of life for all life on Earth. It was because of solar flares, as many researchers believe, that life appeared on Earth (252 million years ago). And it was precisely because of the behavior of the Sun that dinosaurs and other reptiles died in ancient times.

Shine brightly on us, Sun!

People constantly wonder whether the Sun will exhaust its energy and go out? Of course, it will go out - nothing is eternal in the world. And for such massive stars there is a time of birth, activity and decay. But for now the Sun is in the middle of the evolutionary cycle and it has enough energy. By the way, at the very beginning this star was less bright. Astronomers have determined that in the earliest stages of development, the brightness of the Sun was 70 percent lower than it is now.

On Saturday, March 26, Earth Hour took place - an annual international event organized by the World Wildlife Fund, which calls for turning off lights and other electrical appliances for 1 hour.

This is one of the largest flash mobs in the world. This year, a record number of countries took part in the Earth Hour campaign - 134. On Saturday, the lights of the Eiffel Tower went out in Paris, and in London, one of the world's largest Ferris wheels, the London Eye, went out.

In Moscow, from 20:30 to 21:30, more than 75 objects were plunged into darkness, including the Moscow State University building and about ten overpasses and bridges.

Taiwan, Taipei

Taipei 101 is a skyscraper located in the capital of Taiwan, Taipei. The skyscraper has 101 floors, and the height with the spire is 509 meters. It is the 2nd tallest building in the world, after the Burj Khalifa. On March 26, while participating in the Earth Hour campaign, the skyscraper was plunged into darkness for an hour. (Photo by Sam Yeh | AFP):

Australia, Sydney

Luna Park in Sydney took part in the Earth Hour flash mob and turned off the lights for 1 hour on March 26, 2011. (Photo by Rick Rycroft | AP):

South Korea, Seoul

One of the symbols of Seoul is the TV tower. (Photo by Park Ji-hwan | AFP):

Australia, Sydney

Lights off for 1 hour on the Harbor Bridge, Sydney's largest bridge. It is also one of the largest steel arch bridges in the world. On background you can see the symbol of the city - the Sydney Opera House, which also took part in the flash mob. (Photo by Michelle O"Connor | AP):

UAE, Abu Dhabi

Also known locally as the Grand Mosque, one of the six largest mosques in the world, located in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Nations United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Waleed Al Temimi | WWF):

China, Beijing

China's national landmark, Bird's Nest Stadium, March 26, 2011. (Photo by David Gray | Reuters):

Downtown skyscrapers before and during Earth Hour, March 26, 2011. (Photo by Tim Chong | Reuters):

Indonesia, Jakarta

Jakarta National Monument (top left) - the capital of Indonesia. (Photo by Alfonso RENO):

England London

Piccadilly Circus, London. (Photo by Tristan Fewings):

USA, New York

The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in New York on the island of Manhattan. (Photo by Eric Thayer | Reuters):

Hong Kong

Hungary, Budapest

The Szechenyi Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge over the Danube River. (Photo by Attila Kisbenedek | AFP):

Switzerland, Lausanne

Canada, Vancouver

Suspension bridge Lion Gate. (Photo by Andy Clark | Reuters):

Greece, Athens

Odeon Theater of Herodes Atticus, Earth Hour on the slopes of the Acropolis hill, March 26, 2011. (Photo by John Kolesidis | Reuters):

Sweden, Gothenburg

Gotaplatsen square, in the center of which is the Poseidon fountain - the work of the world famous Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, March 26, 2011. (Photo by Johan Nilsson | Reuters):

Georgia, Tbilisi

Earth Hour on pedestrian bridge Mira on the Kura River in Tbilisi, March 26, 2011. (Photo by Jack Armstrong | WWF):

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas Strip. The most luxurious casinos, hotels and entertainment centers are located here. (Photo by Ethan Miller | Getty Images):

Scotland, Edinburgh

Ancient fortress - Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock also turned off its lights for 1 hour on March 26, 2011. (Maverick Photo Agency):

Belarus, Minsk

New building National Library The Republic of Belarus. The 22-story library is one of the largest in the world. The building has an unusual backlight, which is a giant multi-color LED screen, which was turned off during Earth Hour on March 26, 2011. (Photo by Sergei Grits | AP):

Hong Kong

Germany Berlin

UAE, Abu Dhabi

The headquarters of the Emirati company Aldar Properties, one of the leading companies in the capital emirate of Abu Dhabi in the field of real estate operations. There are no analogues to this building, about 110 meters high, in the world. Winner of the award for "Best Futuristic Design". During Earth Hour on March 26, 2011, this building also went dark. (Photo by Chris Joyce | WWF):

The famous 88-story Petronas skyscraper with a height of 452 meters in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, March 26, 2011. (Photo by Saeed Khan | AFP):

Australia, Sydney

Night Sydney. At Earth Hour, the famous Sydney Opera House (below left) also went dark. (Photo by Tim Wimborne | Reuters):

This is roughly what happened in 134 countries around the world. Emblem of the Earth Hour campaign:

The largest Earth Hour event in human history will take place next Saturday, March 29, at 20:30. Billions of people around the world will turn off their lights for one hour as a sign of concern for the future of the planet. The website of the campaign in Russia is 60.wwf.ru.

In 2013, two billion people from 150 countries took part in Earth Hour. The action, first held in 2007 as a symbol of human concern for the environment, over time has grown into an international campaign to preserve the resources of our planet, in which anyone can take part.

However, in addition to active participants and supporters of the action, there are also many skeptics. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has commented on the three most common criticisms of Earth Hour.

Danger to power grids

Some people believe that Earth Hour is a dangerous event. If everyone turns on the lights at once after the end of the action, there will be a big power surge and everything will break. However, as noted by WWF, there will be no unusual power surge. Such jumps are common for energy plants - after all, every day people come home and turn on the lights at the same time, or go to bed and turn them off at the same time.

The system operator of the Unified Energy System (JSC SO UES), the company that is responsible for the operation of the Russian energy system, every year confirms to concerned people that the Earth Hour action will not lead to failures in the country's unified energy system.

“A simultaneous voluntary power outage in apartments as part of the Earth Hour campaign cannot affect the operation of the unified energy system of Russia. A blackout in the apartments of several tens or even hundreds of thousands of Russians cannot lead to a noticeable change in the level of consumption in the energy system,” the energy company notes.

Increase in crime

Cautious citizens are warning that a power outage in the city could lead to an increase in crime. However, the organizers of Earth Hour never call for turning off the lights that are responsible for public safety. People turn off the lights at home and those electrical appliances that are not important in ensuring the safety and preservation of people's health. If family members spend an hour in candlelight and away from TV, laptops and phones, it can only have a beneficial effect on their health and mood.

“In the city, only the decorative lighting of some buildings is turned off. Street lights and other lighting that affects the safety of pedestrians and vehicles is never turned off during the event. “Earth Hour is a voluntary event, and the organizers oppose any forced blackout,” the foundation notes.

Useless promotion

A number of skeptics believe that Earth Hour does not save electricity, so the campaign is useless. At the same time, WWF notes that saving electricity is not the goal of the action. Usually, Earth Hour leads to electricity savings, but very insignificant ones - after all, all power plants are quite inert, and one hour is a short period.

"The purpose of Earth Hour is different. This is an event during which we remember that the resources of our planet are limited and it is our responsibility to take care of what nature gives us. Every year, millions of people from more than 150 countries around the world unite their voices to draw attention to the fragility of our Earth, to those environmental problems, which are important for them,” WWF emphasizes.

Thus, in Russia in 2012, during the Earth Hour campaign, more than 120 thousand signatures were collected for a law to protect the seas from oil pollution. At the end of 2012, the law was signed by the President of Russia and came into force on July 1, 2013. In 2013, as part of Earth Hour, they managed to collect 130 thousand signatures for a ban on industrial logging in protective forests, and the bill is now being considered in the State Duma.

This year, WWF Russia launched a new campaign in which everyone can take part by supporting a specific environmental project in Russia on the website 60.wwf.ru.

“A sensitive hour of time “H”,
Brocade of stars on my shoulder,
In the spell of corruption I fly in a beam,
My black mark is Rock.

Night to the stars, light to the Father,
Dust is dear to my face.
To the end, dance to the end,
My black mark is Rock."
"Alice" - "Black Mark"

It turned out to be a rather long epigraph. The song is just really good...
So, my dear lovers of idiotic flash mobs, senseless and merciless. I understand that doing something useful for humanity is very difficult. Therefore, it's time to tell you the whole truth about what protecting nature is.
And an amazing article from the Green World website will help us with this (dollars have that color, that’s where the name comes from).

Shall we get started?

This is not the first time this collective action has taken place. A year ago, Sydney, or rather its 2 million 200 thousand residents and 2 thousand 100 companies, acted as a pioneer.

For one hour, the city's energy consumption dropped by more than 10 percent.

Thanks to this, emissions carbon dioxide into the atmosphere decreased as if there were 48 thousand fewer cars on the roads.
To generate electricity, mainly organic fuels are used - coal, oil, gas. When fuel is burned, carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere. An increase in its concentration in the atmosphere leads to harmful climate changes.

By turning off the lights in your apartment for just 1 hour, you will save approximately 500 watt-hours. This means that thanks to you, about 200 grams of CO2 will not enter the atmosphere. With the support of the action by all Russians, emissions of the ill-fated gas will decrease by 10 thousand tons.

Tomorrow, Saturday March 29, at 20:00 your local time, do not forget to turn off the lights and turn off electrical appliances that are not vital.

By the way, the World Wildlife Fund writes that Earth Hour will begin at 20:30 March 28 , and GreenPeace - that in 20:00 March 29 .
And who to believe?

This post or on it you express your agreement with the author, making him extremely pleased.
List of those who agree with the author:
1. OlegLad
2. Koshka_M
3. BraveDefender
4.

According to scientists, humans have lived on Earth for several tens of thousands of years. From year to year, the violent activity of homosapiens caused great damage to the planet. People developed, technology moved forward, and therefore the problems associated with the pollution of the planet only increased. But smart humanity once said to itself: “Stop!”, and decided that over many years of thousand-year history we could find just an hour a year to try to save the Earth. Thus was born new holiday, or rather the worldwide event World Wide Funf For Nature.

Let's synchronize watches

Every person will be able to think about their behavior on March 30, 2019 from half past eight to half past ten in the evening local time. The essence of the action is simple: everyone who participates in it must turn off all electrical appliances and lights for just one hour. Spending an entire hour of the Earth in complete darkness, without the Internet, TV and smartphone will be unbearably difficult, but the planet needs our sacrifices. There have been cases where people who turned off the light for just an hour were so imbued with the pristine atmosphere, charged with peace and quiet, that they refused to turn on the light after an hour. When Earth Hour had ended all over the world, they continued to sit in the dark.

Goal for the hour

Like all events held under the auspices of the World Wildlife Organization, environmentalists hope to attract as much attention as possible to the pressing problems of our planet. Show that humanity, when faced with one common problem, can rally around it and solve it, if not completely, then partially. This is what the organizers of the World Wide Fund action are calling for and what thousands of people who joined the action are counting on. Every year the number of active participants is growing, perhaps it’s just a matter of flash mobs that are fashionable today, or maybe it’s true that humanity has become a little more responsible over the past decades. But the matter cannot be solved in one hour, especially on the scale of the entire planet, so the Earth Hour campaign is, rather, a symbol of our faith and struggle for the future of the planet, and therefore for our future too.

Sad statistics

According to scientists, human influence on environment has increased noticeably since 2003. Even then, environmentalists sounded the alarm, because by maintaining this harmful trend, by 2050 the planet would turn into one big garbage dump, which would completely lack all the resources necessary for living organisms. And then humanity will have to celebrate the Earth Hour of 2051 on some neighboring planet. The only thing left to do is to find a planet suitable for life and invent a way to transport a multi-billion population. Or maybe it would be easier to clean up your home and not leave your native land?

Promotion statistics

For the first time, Australians, concerned about environmental problems, dared to turn off the electricity. Earth Hour was accompanied by a widespread but voluntary blackout in Sydney, the country's major metropolitan area. The electro-flash mob was liked by other advanced citizens of the world, and next year More than 100 million people joined the Australians in 35 countries. The number of participants in the event is growing every year. Just think, in 2011 it was supported by almost 2 billion people from 135 countries. It’s scary to think how many citizens will voluntarily cut off their electricity during Earth Hour 2019.

Russia without light

Our country, without even knowing it, periodically participated and is participating in these actions, not only in March, but also whenever there is a power outage here or there. But this is all unofficially, so to speak, on a voluntary basis and at the request of the country’s citizens concerned about the fate of the planet. The official Earth Day took place in our country only in 2009, when the action was supported by 20 cities, and the total number of people who turned off their lights in 2011 was 11 million people. Last year, 2017, the campaign was supported by more than 150 cities.

Strictly on a voluntary basis

Earth Hour involves not only conscious citizens who care about the fate of the planet, but also large organizations. Authorities in various cities are shutting down the event for the duration of the protest. street lighting buildings, but leave urban lighting. Still, safety precautions must be observed, so the lighting must work regardless of the goodwill of the participants. Basically, during the event, the lights on the most famous landmarks of a particular city are turned off. In 2011, the Roman Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis in Athens and the Empire State Building in New York were left without electricity. Luzhniki, Moscow State University, Shabolovskaya Tower and about 70 other different capital objects were responsible for the Russian part. The cultural capital also did not lag behind Moscow. In St. Petersburg, the famous bridges plunged into darkness, Winter Palace, Palace Square and other famous attractions.

When is Earth Hour in 2019