As a record 441 cities and towns prepared for lights out in Canada, we shared this exclusive image of beautiful wave patterns on the Canadian side of Lake Erie. Lights were dimmed at famous landmarks such as Niagra Falls and the CN Tower, and Toronto hosted a concert where singer/songwriter Andrew Huang performed an Earth Hour anthem, with lyrics written by crowd sourced Facebook submissions. These Earth Hour from Space images were provided by ESA/NASA to celebrated astronaut André Kuipers observing the switch off from the International Space Station.

The Amazon rainforest as seen from space - this image was shared exclusively with the Earth Hour community as Hora Do Planeta hit Brazil on March 31. This year, the Rio+20 Earth Summit will take place between 20 - 22 June 2012, focusing on sustainable development poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development. Greenpeace International Exectutive Director Kumi Naidoo will dye his beard green for Rio+20 because 10,000 people accepted his IWIYW challenge to support Earth Hour. (Image ESA/NASA)

This image of light infiltration in the Alps was shared with the Earth Hour community on March 31, as the hour of inspiration made its way across Europe. André Kuipers observed the lights going off from the International Space Station. Earth Hour 2012 took place in 152 countries and territories and nearly 7000 cities and towns - the biggest growth for the campaign since 2009. This is our planet - what are you willing to do to protect it? (Image ESA/NASA)

As Earth Hour made its way across the Middle East, we shared this exclusive image of the fertile Nile River in Egypt as seen from space. Andre Kuipers observed Earth Hour from the International Space Station for the first time in 2012. The images of our planet were shown over the Earth Hour weekend to give some perspective as to what it is we’re trying to save by going beyond the hour each year. Isn’t our world beautiful? (Image ESA/NASA)

This image of the Russian east coast (Kamchatka Peninsula) was shared on the Earth Hour Global Facebook Timeline page, just as the world’s largest country kicked off its first Earth Hour celebration for 2012. The event took place 9 different times in Russia, as the clocks reached 8:30PM in the various timezones. Organisers say some 15 million Russians took part this year, 40 per cent more than in 2011. These images were shared to celebrate Earth Hour reaching space for the first time, with Astronaut André Kuipers observing the world switch off from the International Space Station.

Earth Hour went to space for the very first time in 2012, with astronaut André Kuipers observing the hour of darkness from the International Space Station. As the movement passed across the world, we used our Facebook page to share exclusive images (kindly provided by ESA/NASA) of the wonders of our planet that were taking part in Earth Hour at that time. This image of a salt lake in the Australian Outback was shared as Earth Hour’s home city Sydney switched off. This is the reason we do Earth Hour, to protect the one thing that unites us all - the planet.

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International Space Station

Night lights from the International Space Station, Credit: ESA/NASA