MSNBC's Tamron Hall Blames Missouri Tornado on Climate Change, Climate Scientist Retorts 'Random Chance'
Less than 24 hours after a devastating tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri – killing at least 116 people – an MSNBC anchor was busy putting a political spin on the tragedy.
Tamron Hall wondered aloud on "News Nation" today whether climate change was to blame for the rash of hurricanes and tornadoes that ravaged several states, including Missouri, over the last few months.
"What about climate change?" speculated Hall, interviewing Dr. Howard Bluestein. "You have many people who see these severe storms, and not just the tornadoes, but the strength of hurricanes and even severe storms, we're getting hail and high winds right now from Texas, I believe, all the way through the Midwest. Is this a result of climate change or an effect of climate change?"
Bluestein, a meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma, dismissed Hall's baseless conjecture: "I don't think we can prove whether or not the occurrence of all these bad events this year are due to global warming whatsoever. They could be simply due to natural variability."
Hall began the interview with an open-ended question about the potential causes of these severe weather events, but after Bluestein suggested "random chance" could be the culprit, the daytime anchor pressed the climate change issue.
A transcript of the segment can be found below:
MSNBC
News Nation
May 23, 2011
2:34 p.m. EDT
TAMRON HALL: What about climate change? You have many people who see these severe storms, and not just the tornados, but the strength of hurricanes and even severe storms, we're getting hail and high winds right now from Texas, I believe, all the way through the Midwest. Is this a result of climate change or an effect of climate change?
Dr. HOWARD BLUESTEIN, University of Oklahoma: Well I can't speak for hurricanes, but for tornadoes and supercells, I don't think we can prove whether or not the occurrence of all these bad events this year are due to global warming whatsoever. They could be simply due to natural variability. After all, when you think back to some of the other historic events, like April 30 1974, the tornadoes in Missouri in 1953, the tri-state tornadoes back in 1925. If you through the records, you'll see that every 20, 30, 40 years there are these tremendous widespread outbreaks and some of them occurred long before we were talking about global warming.
HALL: Alright, Dr. Howard Bluestein, of the University of Oklahoma, where they certainly see their share of tornadoes in that state. Thank you so much, sir.
--Alex Fitzsimmons is a News Analysis intern at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Comments
Tamron's last science class?
Submitted by JeffC... on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:09pm.
I'm guessing earth science in high school. She seems like the type who complained about having to take it because she "would never need it in real life."
I bet she complained to her producer
Submitted by T Walt on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 11:12am.
I can imagine the conversation when they went to commercial....
"Next time get a Goddamn so-called expert who isn't gonna make me look like an ass. Who the hell found this guy anyway? And why wasn't he f#*%ing pre-screened? This is MSNBC for chrissakes. We shake a tree around her and a half dozen global warming douches fall out. I swear to God Artie, if this happens again it's your ass."
And that short story is filed
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 11:13am.
And that short story is filed under the category of "Fantasy/Science Fiction" at your local library.
:-)
Come On Tamera-Ronald...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:14pm.
...Natural disasters are ALWAYS blamed on the sitting president...(Google Katrina-Bush)
Usually, Big ...
Submitted by Newsbubba on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:15pm.
... but as with everything else "Obama," this was Bush's fault.
Thank you BigDaddy*
Submitted by cajun2 on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 8:47pm.
Somehow I just knew this was Obama's fault.
That didn't take long
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:18pm.
I was wondering when they would trot out the global warming/climate change bit.
Hell, at work, I had some people from a different department who were doing some work for us claim that it was global warming. I told him my dad was 77 years old and he's seen stuff like this before, it's nothing new. Weather comes and goes.
I said "it's just weather. Sometimes it gets hot, sometimes it gets cold, sometimes we get storms, sometimes we don't. Man has absolutely nothing to do with it, so relax about the global warming nonsense."
I told him about the CO2 component in our atmosphere. He knew of it, but he had no idea that it was only 0.033% of our air's makeup. He seemed to be a little convinced at least.
-Jon
Should have..........
Submitted by GregE on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 10:51pm.
"..........He knew of it, but he had no idea that it was only 0.033% of our air's makeup......"
Should have asked him what he thought it was, before telling him. I bet the answer would have been uh, interesting.
Should have clarified that one
Submitted by jon_torlin on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:36pm.
I meant to say that he had no idea what the percentage was, and I didn't want to insult him by trying to make him guess. I wasn't trying to play "gotcha" with him since I do have to work with him from time to time. That's kind of the work relationship I have with him and other people I work with, I tell them that if they don't know the answer, don't guess, just say so, I won't hold it against them as long as they are honest. It's worked pretty well so far.
Anyone who deals with me at work know I don't put up with or even appreciate BS. As long as we are honest, we'll get along just fine. At the same time, I've learned how to have better chances at telling if someone's being dishonest with me.
I wouldn't last long as a Congressman, I'd be forever calling people out for their BS. ;-)
But I try to find out how much people really know about weather and etc, and it's very surprising how little they know. It's also a little disconcerting and makes me wonder how much they do in preparation in case a storm hits and its aftermath.
-Jon
Algore Disciples
Submitted by Kuso Jiji on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:19pm.
make rotten journalists.
Meanwhile, MSNBC is no doubt looking for a new "expert"
Submitted by Niall on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:25pm.
--
Tamron Hall is so on top of
Submitted by ant on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:56pm.
Tamron Hall is so on top of meteorology and global climate, she must be so sure. But I'd bet Tamron Hall could not correctly name a single Mid or Southwest State on a blank map, like Ann Curry, you would probably have to show her where the home-State of her messiah is located.
Has anyone else noticed?
Submitted by jdlybrand on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 6:15pm.
I know it's hard to stomach these MSNBC'ers, but I've been tuning in more than usual and I notice that almost all the 'anchors' look away from the camera as their guests answer questions. I first noted Mika doing it all the time on 'Morning Joe". Wish I was a fly on the wall in the studio to see why their eyes divert so often. But then again, if I were a fly in that studio I'd probably be too busy deciding which pile of crap to hover over to pay that much attention.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Same spin, different (NBC) network
Submitted by Cactus Kurt on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 7:03pm.
Becky Quick gave the same spin on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning. Must have been in this morning's NBC memo to on-air staff.
Tornado alley
Submitted by Anna on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 7:25pm.
Maybe someone should give Tamron a ring and explain about tornado alley and Dixie alley - the plains and valley regions between mountain ranges where cold air from Canada sweeps down and meets warm air rising from Mexico and the gulf. We learned about it in elementary school, Tamron. Oh, and the deadliest years of tornado activity in the US recorded were 1840 and 1925.
Here's a good website: http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/tornadoes.html
Heavens to murgatroyd. They never give up.
Submitted by Herbster on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 7:43pm.
Tampon Hall....meterologist and all around weather genius! Amazing the garbage put out by these practicing morons. Hey, Tampon.......I hate to tell you, but, there is no Tooth Fairy, no Santa Claus, no global warming/climate change and definitely no one at your station with an IQ higher than a turnip!
Tampon, tomorrow, you could do a report on global cooling...that hasn't been done in quite a while.
Lippy the Lion
Submitted by jdlybrand on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 9:00pm.
"exit stage left".
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Snagglepuss actually
Submitted by TempusFugit on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:31pm.
.
Senior moment
Submitted by jdlybrand on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 9:16am.
My memory failed me...imagine that!
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
These Global Warming Ghouls have no shame.
Submitted by Phryj1 on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 9:32pm.
We have a deadly weather catastrophe, and they IMMEDIATELY politicize it to push the Carbon Cops' agenda. Truly sickening.
Oh, and "Is this a result of climate change or an effect of climate change?" seems like a loaded question. Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, but it seems like the left-wing yellow journ-O-lism is seeping through the cracks.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
Not only tornadoes
Submitted by ahusser on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 10:16pm.
But the high pollen count this year is being blamed on, you guessed it, climate change. Those writing these articles take climate change as a given without blinking and is now a taken for granted "fact".
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/allergy-and-asthma/ar...
From the article above: "...Another factor in the increased pollen counts is climate change. Parker said that concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased in the past 100 years, and plants thrive on increasing levels of CO2. "Some types of pollens have doubled because of climate change," said Parker.
"CO2 is good for plants and they're making more pollen," agreed Dr. David Rosenstreich, director of the division of allergy and immunology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. In addition, he said, "Pollen seasons are lengthening a little bit because of global warming...."
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
Yet another leftist dilemma,
Submitted by ant on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:17pm.
Yet another leftist dilemma, CO2 is BAAAADDDD! But it's good for plants. Kinda hard to be a tree hugger and demand mankind change the atmosphere back to.... where it ....was....? No, where it was is different from where it was before and different from the period before that. So how do we know what's supposed to be normal? We don't, because it's a false religion of profit. And how can we change the atmosphere to our 'standards'. We can't, and even if we could we're back to the dilemma of unintended consequences, like, starving plants of CO2.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive."
The real dilemma
Submitted by ahusser on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 12:57pm.
For the left is actually believing our tiny race could actually change the planet's condition. This new religion, making the planet a god, and blaming mankind for it's destruction would be laughable if not so misguided. This is all feel good, self-righteous, touchy feely, liberal smugness on parade. The only success this "religion" will realize is the destruction of our economy and our standard of living. It is just another destructive utopian dream. (see socialism and communism et al).
"Somehow, I told you so, just doesn't quite say it." Will Smith in 'I, Robot.'
I Pitty These so called Journalists...
Submitted by gruyere cheese on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 10:59pm.
Their work space is in a basement with lots of artificial lights from the cameras and computers...too much time spent in this environment can make someone become detached from reality. This is why you cannot take what they say on the airwaves seriously; they are delisounal.
Don't forget...
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:08pm.
Don't forget that they also have an earpiece that is used so that someone else will them what to say and how to act. Talk about Human Automatons! These people don't have a single independent thought throughout their entire career!
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
TAMRON HALL: What about
Submitted by MightyMouth on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 11:10pm.
TAMRON HALL: What about climate change?
LOL! My 5 year old grandson knows what the 4 seasons are!
Ok, lets see... in the winter it gets cold, in the spring it warms up a little, in the summer it gets HOT, in the fall it starts to cool off again. TAMRON are you as smart as a 5 year old?
Face Palm moment for Tamron Hall
Submitted by Boil It Down on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 2:53am.
How can these seemingly intelligent people fall for the Climate Cult? -bidn-
Perspective
Submitted by Nonanon on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 6:21am.
It is amazing and scary how so many people lack any perspective on events. I don't want to minimize what those who suffer from these weather events go through, but the coverage intimates that the storms are getting worse. They are not, but there are more people to hurt or kill and more stuff to damage or destroy than there was in the past. They don't seem to consider that 50, 100, 200, or more years ago how much less there was, thus even stronger storms would have had nothing to damage. F5 tornados could have gone through the empty ground that was there and there would have been no dollar loss. Also if these storms would have taken a slightly different path, there would be a different outcome. But there doesn't seem to be much of a push to have sensible coverage about things any more. Most seems to be based on emotions, and if you try to steer toward a balance, you are labelled cruel or heartless.
I'll take my cue from Mr Obama. . . .
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 6:24am.
Tamron Hall is your typical black woman and blames all weather on white people and the technology they created to make life easier.
The left are predictable. The
Submitted by jessieH on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:43am.
The left are predictable. The sun is out-climate change. It's raining-climate change. Obama is speaking-global warming.
An open letter to Tamron Hall
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:48am.
I was asked to pass this along from my friend:
---
Dear Tamron Hall,
The climate has always been changing. It's called a clue. Get one.
Sincerely,
Captain Obvious
Astounding...
Submitted by Lgbpop on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 11:04am.
Stupid broad.