Countdown has begun for Live Earth global event

This Saturday, the whole world will rock in a united effort to bring awareness to the climate change crisis through Live Earth:The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis.

According to SOS (Save Our Selves), the group behind this global spectacle, Live Earth will be "a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis."

A Newsday article entitled "As the World Tunes," explains that Kevin Wall, founder of the SOS group and producer of Live 8, came up with the idea of organizing this event inspired by former Vice President Al Gore, whose Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth brought to the forefront the debate about global warming.

"Millions of people saw that movie and realized that this was a compelling argument," Wall said to Newsday. "I wanted to see if we could get the globe to pay attention, to get billions of people to take notice."

In the same article, Wall also added that aside from the concerts, the event's main goal is to teach as many people as possible about ways to improve the environment:

We want people to know they can step up and make a change... They can
make a change by changing how they treat the environment, by buying green, by
voting to put people in office who will negotiate these improvements on a global
basis. If we can get people to move in that direction, we can really have
an impact. ..

The historical music event will feature eight concerts in the following cities: New York, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Chiba and Tokyo.

Among the artists acheduled to appear are Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, and Shakira. The event will also allow fans to see some of their favorite bands reunite for the first time, among them Smashing Pumpkins and The Police.

The event will reach its worldwide audience through TV, radio and the Internet- the concerts will be broadcast in the United States through NBC, but they will also stream through Live Earth's website.

However, according to Gore, the show will be just a starting point for a global movement that seeks to increase consciousness about our planet's suffering:

"Live Earth will be just the beginning of a three year campaign worldwide to deliver information about how to solve the climate crisis," he said.

DiCaprio brings global warming documentary to Cannes

This week, Leonardo DiCaprio is attending the Cannes Film Festival among other Hollywood stars, though not as an actor, but as a writer, producer and narrator of a climate change documentary.

"The 11th Hour," a film that discusses how humans have affected the climate and what can be done to remedy the damage, will be featured as a special screening at the festival.

Following the footsteps of Al Gore, who won an Academy Award last year for his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," DiCaprio seeks to bring attention to the critical issue of global warming, although in a different way. According to the Associated Press, the film not only shows the impact of climate change but also provides advice from over 50 leading scientists, visionaries and leaders from around the world on how to heal our planet. Among them, Wade Davis, an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, who sends a clear message about humanity's ability to repair the harm done:

"All of these forces sweeping over the planet are the
forces created by human beings. And if human beings are the source of the
problem, we can be the foundation of the solution."

The 11th Hour will be shown in U.S. theaters towards the fall; however, you may visit www.the11thhourfilm.com to find out more about the film itself and also learn about the crisis our planet is currently facing due to the climate change. You can also sign up for the campaign "Lighten your Footprint," which provides information on how you and your community can take action and become part of the solution.