Rock ’n’ roll might not save the planet, but it can still stir things up pretty well.

You might have a hard time getting through the day today without seeing or hearing any of Live Earth, the series of mega-concerts taking place around the world to focus attention on global warming. And, anyway, you’d be missing an unusual mix of music and a bit of history in the making.

Organizers are hoping that 2 billion people worldwide will watch the concerts, which will take place over 24 hours on all seven continents. There will be shows in Rio de Janeiro and Shanghai, and even in Antarctica, where a small band of British scientists will make its musical debut from a frozen research station near the South Pole.

The world has never felt so small.

And probably not since Elvis twitched and The Beatles invaded has a rock event generated so much hype and hand-wringing in this country.

Some members of Congress even stepped in to keep the concert off the Capitol lawn, saying it was too controversial and political. Former Vice President Al Gore, the primary organizer, outflanked those lawmakers Friday by announcing a surprise concert outside the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, well within guitar range of the Capitol.

In the global media, meanwhile, the show is getting put through the virtual wringer. Can rock stars change the world? Aren’t they a bunch of hedonistic hypocrites? Won’t such a massive high-voltage event just heat the planet even more?

One British survey asked which rock star performing in London is considered the least green. The consensus was Madonna, for the record.

Hypocrisy is easy to find when it comes to global warming. No one is pure enough to throw stones on this one. The entertainment industry is always easy pickings for people who say one thing and do another.

The criticism is coming from some unpredictable places, however.

Bob Geldof, whose Live Aid set the standard for global benefit concerts, called it a waste of time. Everybody already knows the plant is warming, he said.

Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, might not be watching, either. “The last thing the planet needs is another rock concert,” he said.

Live Earth seems like a sure bet to make the anti-global warming movement cool and sexy. And the largest audience in music history will see and hear the messages aired between musical sets.

But there are environmentalists who see it as a feel-good “light green” approach to a problem that demands deeper sacrifice. To those people, Sting’s bass might sound like Nero’s fiddle.

We’ll see whether Live Earth helps mobilize music fans around the world or just puts a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. In the meantime, there’s no disputing that the concerts mark a major shift in attitudes toward climate change.

Live Earth might not be the thing that pushes public concern over a tipping point that leads to global action. The music might be the sound of us tipping already.

For more information on local gatherings to watch the concerts, go here.

For more information on Live Earth, go here.

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