July 2007
Millions of viewers from around
the world logged onto www.LiveEarth.MSN.com to experience Saturday’s Live
Earth concerts happening on all seven continents and to confront the
threat of global warming, while millions more watched the shows on
television, and still more millions saw hundreds of entertainers live in
eight concert venues.
As of 3:00 pm EDT on Saturday, MSN had a total of more than 10 million
video streams and had the most simultaneous viewers of any online concert
ever, the company said.
"History is being made today," said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice
president and chief media officer of MSN. "Millions of people around the
world have joined together to fight the climate crisis."
"We expect to see an even greater number of streams after the concerts are
over as people return to watch their favorite performances or enjoy them
for the first time if they missed the concerts live," she said.
On-demand footage of all performances, along with artist interviews,
backstage footage, and searching capabilities for specific songs and
artists will be available free of charge from all eight official concerts
at LiveEarth.MSN.com for the next several weeks.
"Live Earth is committed to providing our global audience with ways to
"Answer the Call" and individually make a difference to help solve the
climate crisis," said Kevin Wall, founder and producer of Live Earth.
"By providing the opportunity to view the shows in their entirety online,"
said Wall, "coupled with our unique solutions campaign we’re able to
communicate this message on a mass scale in a way that engages people and
inspires them to act."
Most scientists now agree that the Earth's atmosphere is warming at the
fastest rate in recorded history, a trend that is projected to cause
extensive damage to forests, marine ecosystems, and agriculture.
Human communities are threatened by climate change as seas rise, storms
become more intense, and episodes of drought and flooding increase. The
polar ice caps are melting and ice-dependent species such as polar bears
are struggling to survive.
The scientific evidence is now compelling that recent climate change is
caused at least in part by human activities, especially the burning of
fossil fuels, which has driven atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations
to their highest levels in 420,000 years.
To combat global warming, Live Earth is encourging everyone to take the
Live Earth Seven Point Pledge, promoted at the on stage shows and a
feature of the Live online webcast. People watching were urged to sign the
pledge and to take whatever actions they could to cool the planet.
In London, Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am was inspired to peform a
song he wrote for Gore after meeting him at the Grammys. The lyrics call
upon spiritual leaders of many faiths for help in fighting global warming.
Closing the show at London's Wembley Stadium, Madonna thanked Gore and
Live Earth founder and producer Kevin Wall for starting "an avalance of
awareness."
"Let's hope the concert here tonight and the concerts all around the world
are not just about music - but about starting a revolution," Madonna said.
At Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, actor Kevin Bacon said
backstage, "Six degrees could separate us from a global environmential
disaster of epic proportions. Scientists warn we could see the temperature
rise that high by 2100."
"Only one-third of that rise could mean the extinctions of species," Bacon
said. "The time to answer the call is now, right now."
"Answer the Call" was the motto of the day. Live Earth is calling out for
people to do whatever they can to combat climate change - use compact
fluorescent lightbulbs, carpool, write to their elected representatives
demanding climate-friendly legislation.
On stage at Giants Stadium, Melissa Ethridge, who won this year' Best Song
Oscar for the theme song for Al Gore's Oscar award-winning documentary,
"An Inconvenient Truth," exhorted the crowd to do something right now.
"When I was in school, it was America," Ethridge said. "People were doing
things, people were standing up when it was an unjust war. I remember when
we had a President who was a criminal. I remember America rose up and said
uh-uh. Our democracy is sacred. what happened to us?"
Laying the blame on mass consumption, Ethridge asked the crowd to imagine
that "Monday morning we're going to be looking for the truth. ... We're
going to speak the truth no matter how inconvenient it is."
The Alliance for Climate Protection, chaired by Gore, will receive some of
the proceeds from ticket sales of the concerts. In addition, the
activities of the Alliance are funded by 100 percent Al Gore’s proceeds
from the film and the companion book "An Inconvenient Truth."
The mission of the Alliance "is to persuade the American people - and
people elsewhere in the world – of the importance and urgency of adopting
and implementing effective and comprehensive solutions for the climate
crisis - an unprecedented mass persuasion exercise based on scientific
facts."
Live Earth profits also will go to organizations including the Climate
Group, and Stop Climate Chaos.
The UK charity Stop Climate Chaos is a coalition of more than 50
organizations that conducts the "I Count" campaign to get people involved
in individual and political action on climate change.
I Count Director Ashok Sinha said, "Live Earth is not just a great day for
music. It’s a springboard for action. Through I Count we will give
visibility to people’s personal actions to reduce their carbon footprint
and call on political leaders of all parties to listen and act."
The Climate Group is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to
advance business and government leadership on climate change. Based in the
UK, the USA and Australia, the group operates internationally.
The Live Earth Pledge
I Pledge:
To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2
years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and
by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a
healthy earth;
To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my
own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become
"carbon neutral;"
To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating
facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the
CO2;
To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home,
workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy
sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting
forests; and,
To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to
solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and
prosperous world for the 21st century.
Additionally, Live Earth is asking people to commit to making changes at
home, at work, while getting around, while shopping, in their communities
and to urge changes by their governments. People can make their
commitments and find solutions against the climate crisis at
www.liveearth.org, www.LiveEarth.MSN.com, or by sending a text message of
"SOS" to 82004.
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