NBC Issues 'Disaster Warning' About Climate Change
At the top of Saturday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt scared viewers with an ominous declaration: "Disaster warning. Scientists sound the alarm. If you think this season's wild weather is extreme, wait until you hear what's to come." Introducing the later report, Holt wondered: "...what has been causing all this strange and extreme weather we've been seeing in recent months?"
Holt predicted "a lot more come" as he touted a "new report out this week brought deepening concern about climate change." Environmental correspondent Anne Thompson described the "wacky and unpredictable winter" with "more than 6,000 daily record highs broken" in the U.S. and "an arctic blasts killing hundreds" in Europe.
Thompson warned: "Scientists say ping-ponging between weather extremes may be an indicator of a much bigger problem: the heat trapping gasses of climate change...Dr. David Easterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a co-author of a United Nations report out this week that points to climate change as leading to extreme weather events since 1950."
Easterling announced: "The unusually warm days and nights, and to some extent heat waves, you can actually begin making that link between climate change and those events."
Thompson admitted that scientists like Easterling were not "sure if climate change has played a role in the deadly tornadoes that have roared across the US in recent years." But still concluded that they were "connecting some of the dots between how we power the planet – burning oil, gas and coal – and our seemingly unusual weather."
On the March 15 Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams promoted another fearmongering report, declaring: "And tonight there is a new projection that rising seas due to climate change could cause a whole lot of damage much sooner than anyone had previously thought."
Here is a full transcript of the March 31 report:
6:30PM ET TEASE:
LESTER HOLT: Disaster warning. Scientists sound the alarm. If you think this season's wild weather is extreme, wait until you hear what's to come.
6:43PM ET TEASE:
HOLT: When NBC Nightly News continues, scientists sound the alarm about our wild extreme weather and what's in store for our future.
6:46PM ET SEGMENT:
LESTER HOLT: We're back now with a question on many people's minds, what has been causing all this strange and extreme weather we've been seeing in recent months? There may be a lot more to come as a new report out this week brought deepening concern about climate change. NBC's chief environmental correspondent Anne Thompson has more.
ANNE THOMPSON: It's been a wacky and unpredictable winter. Not much snow and cold in the US. In March alone, more than 6,000 daily record highs broken. Snow blanketed parts of Eastern Europe in February, an arctic blasts killing hundreds. But elsewhere, people are relishing a premature case of spring fever, including here in Scotland, where the daffodils are out early and so are the beach-goers. March 2012 is one for the Scottish record books, with the thermometer climbing as high as 74 degrees when it should hover around 50. Perfect weather to stretch the legs.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This time of year, it's usually, you know, pretty stormy. So it's – we just got to savor the moment. Luckily for me, it's my long weekend, so I can enjoy it, you know.
THOMPSON: But scientists say ping-ponging between weather extremes may be an indicator of a much bigger problem: the heat trapping gasses of climate change.
DAVID EASTERLING: The warming that we've seen actually increases the chances, kinds of loads the dice that we're going to see these kinds of events more often.
THOMPSON: Dr. David Easterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a co-author of a United Nations report out this week that points to climate change as leading to extreme weather events since 1950.
EASTERLING: The unusually warm days and nights, and to some extent heat waves, you can actually begin making that link between climate change and those events.
THOMPSON: They also link climate change to heavy precipitation and the floods that follow. Some scientists now wonder if the decline in Arctic Sea ice is altering the course of the jet stream and our weather.
EASTERLING: It's going to impact the climate, but right now we're not exactly sure how that is impacting the climate.
THOMPSON: Nor are they sure if climate change has played a role in the deadly tornadoes that have roared across the US in recent years. Science connecting some of the dots between how we power the planet – burning oil, gas and coal – and our seemingly unusual weather. Anne Thompson, NBC News, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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Comments
Ditch the "smart glasses", Lester, they don't work.
Submitted by drsamherman on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 5:34pm.
You can wrap up road apples in shiny paper, but they are still road apples.
And Lester, you look like Steve Urkel but sound like Les Nessman.
He is just emulating his hero....
Submitted by bigdaddy on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 5:39pm.
...Bryant Gumball and was able to find the glasses in the back of a drawer in his idols old desk at NBC...
Warning
Submitted by grammajane on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 5:39pm.
Nbc should issue a disaster warning about their news reports being edited and full of lies. Hope the Zimmerman family sues for that pathetic conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher portrayed on the today show. Nbc claims they are "looking" into it. What's there to look into? It is quite obvious what was done
➚ What? More weather?
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 5:43pm.
What will we do if we have more weather?
Thank you for the warning, Lester!
Weather Report
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:49pm.
Our local station got the 7 day forecast wrong last week. How is it they're able to see many years out?
The sky is falling! The sky
Submitted by celator on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:04pm.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Vote for Obama if you want to live! He can fix the problem.
Given these mickey-mouse
Submitted by Slyrr on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:08pm.
Given these mickey-mouse climate 'scientists' can't even predict the weather a few HOURS into the future, their predictions about what it will do in a year, five years, ten years and twenty years is laughable.
Keep pushing AGW...
Submitted by upcountrywater on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:19pm.
Eco-rout down under: ‘A mini-van will have more seats than the Labour party in the new parliament.’
Australians come to their senses – March 24th will be remembered as the day they collectively said “we’re tired of this sh**” Commenter “truthseeker” writes in comments:
Those devastating Queensland Election Results: Voters hate lies and the Carbon Tax
You Didn't Build That.
Quick, run for your life - the Gulf of Mexico has warm water . .
Submitted by Gary Hall on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:26pm.
Oh boy:
Thompson admitted that scientists like Easterling were not "sure if climate change has played a role in the deadly tornadoes that have roared across the US in recent years."
Oh come on Anne; you bet it did. The climate [oops - weather] the day before a tornado breakout is often quite different than the day before - it "changes." In fact, it's usually different the day after, as well - it changes again.
Anyhow. I saved a series of graphics of one of the severe tornado outbreaks from the April 2011 horrendous events, complements of AccuWeather.com.
Media was out in force hyping up the “unusually warm gulf,” as the cause of the outbreak – not the driving mechanism at work.
The national media was quick to rush out and blame AGW, or man-made climate change;" often citing that the culprit was the unusual warm moist air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. A quick question here, anyone ever remember the cool dry air coming up from the tropical Gulf of Mexico? Just asking.
What they seemed to miss was the massive onslaught of cold dry air pushing down from the Arctic, via Canada, slamming into that warm gulf moist air. The Gulf is always warm and moist in the spring – it’s not about whether or not the water temperature is a couple degrees one way or the other – it’s simply about the collision which occurs when the blast from the north heads south in the spring.
Here's the maps. Note the predominate weather feature, each day:
April 14, 2011
April 15, 2011
April 16, 2011
(;~/ gary
There is a reason no-one
Submitted by Boudin on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 7:15pm.
Is heading to Main to swim in the Atlantic,
yikes
I thought we weren't supposed to confuse whether with climate
Submitted by ocbizlaw on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:26pm.
There just isn't much left of the debate on climate change anymore, is there? Maybe soon we actually will have a consensus on climate change - although the religious nature of the climate change advocates does indicate that it will be hard to shake their faith.
Drove by there on Sunday
Submitted by upcountrywater on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:37pm.
Church Chain.
You Didn't Build That.
I have a plan to combat climate change...
Submitted by MidAmerica on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:37pm.
When it's cold I turn on the heat.
When it's hot I turn on the air.
leaner
Submitted by sngnsgt on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:38pm.
The network sounds like NASCAR. Get in turn left and go as long as you can. Watch out for the wrecks along the way.
It is changing
Submitted by Shreve on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:41pm.
I think the climate is changing. It changes all the time.
But the thought that humans are primarily making it change is laughable.
Speaking of DISASTERS......
Submitted by djwolf12 on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 6:49pm.
NBS and M.S.S.R. (M-BS-NBC) are in very, very hot water for their altered Zimmerman tape. To quote Bo Snerdley: "They better start apologizing or their gonna get their asses sued". This global warming crap is nothing but a red herring to deflect attention away from the mess they are in right now. Remember, this company has a history and their CEO is IN THE WHITE HOUSE. So YES, they are a propaganda outfit.
More propaganda
Submitted by dbo on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 7:04pm.
The new UN report says nothing of the sort.
Um, our week of "record-breaking" weather, er climate change
Submitted by UpNorth on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 8:04pm.
back in March, set records for high temperatures. Those records were set back in 1931, 1932, and 1905. What was causing those, for then, record temperatures? Was it global warming back then? Swamp gas?
Never fear, NBC will doctor the tables, erase what doesn't fit their meme and blame conservatives.
I wish I could get paid for that kind of work
Submitted by HockeyKid on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:43pm.
"We know fossil fuels cause climate change. We don't know HOW they do it, nor do we know WHAT the change will be. But we know that, whatever it is, it will be BAD."
Sheesh.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
And weather "forecasters"
Submitted by NOLAgirl on Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:40pm.
Are the only people who can be wrong 80% of the time and still keep their jobs...
Impending global cooling disaster...
Submitted by big.league.slider on Tue, 04/03/2012 - 2:03am.
The leftist clowns in the "global warming" movement lost their argument several years ago. Based on the most accurate global surface temperature measurements ever made by mankind, using a fleet of multi-billion-dollar NASA satellites, over the past decade the earth has been shown to be gradually cooling. Anyone that does not accept this established scientific fact is simply a climate denier.
I'd also like the global warming clowns to explain something for me: Since it has been established by legitimate science that the earth is gradually cooling, and the warmists have previously made claims that even a 1 degC increase in global surface temperatures would result in massive extinction of the world's biological species, wouldn't a 1 degC drop in global temperatures be equally as catastrophic for biodiversity? And what is their plan for dealing with such a global cooling event?
Save the earth. Drive a Hummer.