Atlanta goes dark on March 29

The World Wildlife Fund has organized Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco as well as cities across the world to participate in its first global Earth Hour on March 29. For one hour at 8 p.m., major buildings and landmarks in participating cities will go dark to raise awareness about global warming and the impact our daily lives have on the environment. Essential lights, such as street lamps, will remain humming.

The list of participating businesses and landmarks in the city is long, and includes much of the city’s notable buildings such as the Bank of America Plaza and the Equitable Building. Other participants include AT&T headquarters, the Wachovia Building, 1180 Peachtree, Colony Square, Coca-Cola World Headquarters, Hyatt Regency, Turner Field, the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Georgia Dome. (Full list of participants follows after the jump below.) Hell, even the Varsity is going dark.

Georgia Power will measure changes in the city’s energy consumption during the event and word is that NASA will be taking photos of the United States cities that have volunteered to switch off the lights. The WWF urges all residents and businesses to participate at home and turn off all non-essential lights to do their part and help raise awareness about global warming.

More than 2 million people and thousands of businesses participated in the organization’s first Earth Hour last year in Sydney, Australia. The WWF says power consumption dropped 10 percent during the event.