WASHINGTON, Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- World Wildlife Fund today officially kicked off Earth Hour 2009 announcing that Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco would lead the list of U.S. cities committing to go dark for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., uniting with tens of millions of citizens, businesses and government officials from all corners of the world in a call for global action on climate change.

From Amman to Warsaw, the skylines of 74 cities in 62 countries will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history. The list of participating cities includes Auckland, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dubai, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Oslo, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Toronto, with more expected to sign on in the weeks ahead.

WWF officials said Earth Hour will seek to reach more than a billion people across a thousand cities.

"As lights go out in cities around the U.S. and the world on March 28th, Earth Hour will provide world leaders with an unmistakable mandate to negotiate a new international climate change agreement," said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. "The climate crisis threatens the ability of our planet to support its inhabitants, and it has never been more urgent that the voice of the people be heard on this issue. Earth Hour not only focuses global attention on the need to find solutions to climate change, but demonstrates the power that each of us has to make a difference in the future of our planet."