By DPA
New York : One of the largest rock music events in history kicked off Saturday as the series of Live Earth concerts around the world attempts to raise awareness of the threat of global warming.
"Live Earth will jump-start an ongoing, global effort that will drive a critical mass of people to stand up and make challenging global warming a priority in their lives," organizer Kevin Wall said.
Starting with a concert at 01.10 a.m. GMT in Sydney, the 24-hour event is expected to be viewed by more than 2 billion people around the globe in seven main venues attracting hundreds of performers and thousands of fans.
From Sydney, the concerts are set to spread to official venues in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro and London, with over 7,000 local events also taking place including one in Antarctica.
Proceeds from the event, subtitled Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, are to benefit the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group chaired by the former US vice president Al Gore who is one of the principal organizers of Live Earth.
The concerts are also hoping to persuade fans to adopt a seven-point pledge to reduce their own carbon footprint and to press for meaningful legislation that would cut carbon output by 90 percent by the year 2050.
The list of performers set to appear around the world includes Madonna, The Black Eyed Peas, The Police, The Red Hot Chile Peppers and dozens of other acts.
But the event has not been without controversy. The concert in Rio only went ahead after Gore intervened with local authorities to overcome safety concerns about the venue on Copacabana Beach.
A concert in Washington was scheduled only at the last minute when Native American leaders agreed to lend their museum as the concert site.
The concerts and many of the musicians involved have also been criticized for generating huge amounts of carbon with their transportation, lighting and other needs, though organizers have issued guidelines to offset the damage by using renewable energy sources and other tactics.
"This is going to be the greenest event of its kind, ever," said Gore. "The carbon offsets and the innovative practices that are being used to make this a green event will set the standard for years to come."