88888 Lights Out
Encyclopedia
88888 Lights Out was a campaign
Civil society campaign
A civil society campaign is one that is intended to mobilize public support and use democratic tools such as lobbying in order to instigate social change. Civil society campaigns can seek local, national or international objectives...

 with the stated goal of increasing awareness of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

 and promoting actions to reduce energy consumption. By encouraging India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

's residents to turn out the lights for eight minutes and to become more aware of environmental concerns, the organizers sought to limit greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...

 emissions and reduce pollution of the globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...

.

Campaign organization

The campaign was started by Exnora International
Exnora International
Exnora International is a non-governmental environmental service organization started in 1989 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, by M. B. Nirmal, a social activist...

, a non-governmental organization in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It called for people to switch off their lights for eight minutes at 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008 (8-8-8-8-8) to spread awareness and take action to reduce energy consumption and the resulting environmental damage.

In the city of Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala
Surjit Singh Barnala
Surjit Singh Barnala is an Indian politician from Punjab. During his career in Indian politics, he has been Governor of four states, Chief Minister of Punjab, a minister in the union cabinet twice and a vice-presidential candidate once.-Early life:Barnala was born in Ateli village, which was then...

 ordered the lights off in Raj Bhavan
Raj Bhavan (Tamil Nadu)
Raj Bhavans " is the official residence of the Governor of Tamil Nadu. It is located in the capital city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.-History:The earliest official residence of the Governors of Madras were in Fort St. George, the first one built in the 1640s on what is now the Parade Square...

 at 8 p.m. for 8 minutes and said that an awakening should be created among the people of all walks of life on the root cause of global warming, it occurred at the very beginning of the 2008 Olympics.

The effort has been part of a wider effort by the groups involved to bring attention to environmental issues.

External links

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