On Thursday afternoon, MSNBC host Chris Jansing devoted a segment to letting climate alarmist Jeff Goodell blame the Los Angeles wildfires on human-caused global warming as the MSNBC host also promised more discussion of this topic in the near future.
Jansing invoked her guest's book that fearmongers about global warming as she set up the discussion: "Joining me now, climate expert Jeff Goodell, author of the book, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet."
After she asked for his reaction, Goodell began by admitting that California does have a history of substantial wildfires, but then claimed human use of fossil fuels has made such events worse:
You know, fire has been this sort of apocalyptic part of sort of California culture for a very long time. Anyone who's lived there and spent any time there knows that wildfires are not foreign to California. It's very much a part of the place and of, in fact, of the actual ecosystem. You know, but what's really changed is, you know, we have 150 years of burning fossil fuels. Largely, we've created a different climate. And I think what we're seeing here is that we are very poorly prepared for that climate.
He continued:
You know, 2024 was the hottest year on record, and, before that, May 23 was the hottest year on record, and 10 of the last hottest years on record have been in the last decade. And the implications of that are enormous. There have always been wildfires, of course, but, in a hotter, drier climate, those fires burn faster, more intensely, and I think we're seeing that playing out right now.
The MSNBC host alluded to predictions of the issue worsening in the future as she followed up: "When we heard officials -- political officials, fire officials saying, 'This is just the beginning,' they were talking about yesterday that the fires were going to continue. But is there a bigger picture here that this is only the beginning, Jeff?"
Goodell then added:
There is a bigger picture because, you know, we are poorly adapted to this new climate that we have created. This is not some kind of a one-off freak event, you know. This is part of the kind of world that we are living in now. And I think that one of the things that this fire shows is that these risks are changing dramatically. And it's not just that the fires burn bigger and more intensely, but, you know, emergency services are not prepared for these kinds of fires.
Jansing completely ignored the argument that there is no evidence that climate change is linked to wildfires as she wrapped up by asking him to return to her show in the near future when she can devote more time to his analysis.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's CHRIS JANSING REPORTS
January 9, 2024
2:52 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS JANSING: Joining me now, climate expert Jeff Goodell, author of the book, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. Thanks for coming back on the program, Jeff. You're from California, and you tweeted last night that this is surreal, the way you put it, the California Dream is on fire. So tell us what you see in this moment.
JEFF GOODELL, AUTHOR OF THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST: Thanks for having me on, Chris. Yeah, I'm a fourth-generation Californian, and, you know, watching scenes like the one that you just played, you know, it's really heart-breaking, you know. And it's heart-breaking in all kinds of ways. You know, fire has been this sort of apocalyptic part of sort of California culture for a very long time. Anyone who's lived there and spent any time there knows that wildfires are not foreign to California. It's very much a part of the place and of, in fact, of the actual ecosystem. You know, but what's really changed is, you know, we have 150 years of burning fossil fuels. Largely, we've created a different climate. And I think what we're seeing here is that we are very poorly prepared for that climate.
You know, 2024 was the hottest year on record, and, before that, May 23 was the hottest year on record, and 10 of the last hottest years on record have been in the last decade. And the implications of that are enormous. There have always been wildfires, of course, but, in a hotter, drier climate, those fires burn faster, more intensely, and I think we're seeing that playing out right now.
JANSING: When we heard officials -- political officials, fire officials saying, "This is just the beginning," they were talking about yesterday that the fires were going to continue. But is there a bigger picture here that this is only the beginning, Jeff?
GOODELL: There is a bigger picture because, you know, we are poorly adapted to this new climate that we have created. This is not some kind of a one-off freak event, you know. This is part of the kind of world that we are living in now. And I think that one of the things that this fire shows is that these risks are changing dramatically. And it's not just that the fires burn bigger and more intensely, but, you know, emergency services are not prepared for these kinds of fires. The water service -- the water system -- the California water supply system is not prepared for this kind of thing. The entire kind of infrastructure of sort of modern life, especially in a place like L.A., is not prepared for these kind of scale of events.
And I think it's really important to talk about, you know, these kinds of things right now during these events because this is when we're paying attention, and this is when we have the opportunity to think differently about the kind of future that we're creating for ourselves.
JANSING: I hope you'll come back, maybe next week, and we'll talk about what the possibilities are.
