The Live Earth concerts, designed to inspire people into action against climate change, came and went. And what did the media think about them? Not a lot, judging by the cynical comments about their purpose and achievements.

"Where did we suddenly get the idea that the social problems of the world could be solved if only Madonna got more work?," moans Roland White in Britain's Sunday Times.

Madonna, who headlined the Wembley concert - one of nine held on all seven continents - seems to have got the most rap for not practising what she preaches. With her nine homes, a private jet, a fleet of cars and a carbon footprint nearly 100 times larger than the average person's 11 tons of greenhouse gasses per year, the Washington Post points out, it's not hard to see why.

Oh, and she has shares in some of the world's worst polluters, such as Ford and British Petrol, according to Britain's Daily Mail.

And her message to the audience who watched her performance on Saturday night? "If you want to save the planet, I want you to start jumping up and down!" Washington Post wasn't really impressed with such a "plan to combat global warming".

But she wasn't the only one on stage that night whose life doesn't exactly fit the climate change message. Some of the artists, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, for example, even used their private jets to get to and from the concerts. At least the British comedian Ricky Gervais acknowledged the paradox in one of his jokes: "We did have to fly some people in on private jets. They do use up a lot of fuel - but it saves queuing."

The Guardian's Marina Hyde concedes that the concerts probably helped to raise awareness about the issue, but feels the deals that had to be struck to get the "hypocrites" of "artists formerly known as carbon footprints" to perform at the concerts was too much of a Faustian bargain.

The concert-goers don't get off lightly either. The audiences at the gigs in London and New Jersey generated around 5,600 tonnes of greenhouse gasses between them, which is the equivalent of more than 7,000 people flying across the Atlantic, according to the Guardian.

"There are people at this event who are not picking up their trash," the Christian Science Monitor quotes Clive Hall, a bartender at the New Jersey event.

To offset the entire 75,000 tons generated by the whole extravanganza would mean planting 100,000 trees, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, cited by the Washington Post.

People obviously came for the music, but if it'll inspire people into personal action, then it was worth it, says Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman. He was one of the few positive voices about the event, alongside Britain's Independent editorial.

But it's not individual actions that will save the world, the Guardian's editorial says. Cycling to work or washing clothes at 30 degrees is overshadowed by just a few days' emissions from China's coal-fired power stations, it says.

China, in its defence, points out that the West didn't bother to consider the environment during its own industrial revolution and that the United States is still the frontrunner when it comes to per capita greenhouse gas emissions, says Jonathan Fenby, China editor of analytical service Trusted Sources, in Britain's Independent on Sunday.

Indeed, Lu Xuedu from China's Office of Environmental Affairs didn't look like he planned to pay much attention to the campaigners' calls to limit carbon emissions by 90 percent in the next two years, when he appeared on last week's Newsnight. But then he didn't come across as a man who could be persuaded by the singer Joss Stone's argument "all you gotta do is plant a tree, dig a little hole and it's done", Guardian's Alex Petridis points out.

Ultimately, both Fenby and Britain's Observer conclude that if China doesn't change its ways, the planet is heading for some very hot times.

All in all, the Live Earth concerts, with a line-up of sponsors including U.S. car giant Chevrolet, "doubtlessly raised more CO2 than awareness", says Jonah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times. And as the Australian points out, "it is hard not to be cynical" about it.

So, will it be any different from previous musical attempts, like Live Aid or Live 8, to change the world? Not judging by one of the Live Earth participants, U.S. comedian Chris Rock: "I pray that this event ends global warming the same way that Live Aid ended world hunger."

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