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Climate change march attracts hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and others

Over 120 world leaders will attend the U.N.'s climate change summit on Tuesday.

By Thor Benson
Participants march down Central Park West at the "People's Climate March" in New York City on September 21, 2014. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to join the People's Climate March through midtown Manhattan preceding the 2014 U.N. Climate Summit. UPI/John Angelillo
1 of 16 | Participants march down Central Park West at the "People's Climate March" in New York City on September 21, 2014. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to join the People's Climate March through midtown Manhattan preceding the 2014 U.N. Climate Summit. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Vice President Al Gore, one-third of the New York City Council and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors showed up for the march for climate change action called the People's Climate March in New York City on Sunday. Marches related to the New York march took place in Paris, London and many other cities around the world. Celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio also attended the New York event. Organizers of the march estimated it peaked at about 310,000 participants. The march was scheduled two days before world leaders will convene at the U.N. headquarters to discuss climate change.

There was a moment of silence minutes before 1p.m., followed by a loud alarm sound to represent the alarm being sounded on climate change. Drums and other instruments turned the event into a lively spectacle. The march was said to be the largest action against climate change in history, and it marks the beginning of a week of climate change-related events called Climate Week NYC, which will include over 100 other smaller events.

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The meeting the march precedes is supposed to outline parts of a proposed worldwide agreement between U.N. countries that will create further action toward curbing climate change next year.

"Our mission is to make this a decisive moment, and I felt today that I was seeing history starting to be made," said Mayor de Blasio.

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