88888 Lights Out was a

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

with the stated goal of increasing awareness of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and promoting actions to reduce energy consumption. By encouraging

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's residents to turn out the lights for eight minutes and to become more aware of environmental concerns, the organisers sought to limit

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

and reduce pollution of the

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

Campaign organisation

The campaign was started by

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. It focuses on preserving nature and preventing environmental degradation. The nam ...

, a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

. 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 (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, Governor

Surjit Singh Barnala Surjit Singh Barnala (21 October 1925 – 14 January 2017) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state from 1985 to 1987. Following that he served as the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh , l ...

ordered the lights off in

Raj Bhavan Raj Bhavan () is the common name of the official residences of the governors of the states of India and may refer to: List of Raj Bhavan See also * Raj Niwas *Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; o ...

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.

References

External links

88888 Lights Out

EXcellent NOvel RAdical (ExNoRa) website

(Tamil)
Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning EngineersChennai City News
*"Similar programmes have already been undertaken in countries like Australia, Canada, US, New Zealand, Denmark, Fiji, Philippines, Ireland and Israel. In the UK, residents of London also undertook a similar programme. The people of Mumbai also observed such a programme, added the group."
Appeal to switch off lamps for eight minutes today
'' Aug. 7, 2008 Assam Tribune *{{cite news, url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080861220600.htm, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913212433/http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080861220600.htm, url-status=dead, archive-date=September 13, 2008, title=‘88888 Lights Out’ campaign today , date=August 8, 2008, work=

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, access-date=2008-11-13 Environment of India Energy conservation Energy conservation in India 2008 in India