After taking time out of his last few broadcasts to try to clarify his Feb. 8 remarks that the "snowpocalypse" was because of global warming, one would hope MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan would have learned his lesson.
Ratigan spent a portion of his Feb. 10 and now a portion of his Feb. 11 shows trying to clarify his statement - that "these ‘snowpocalypses' that have been going through D.C. and other extreme weather events are precisely what climate scientists have been predicting, fearing and anticipating because of global warming," as he said - but that he didn't necessarily believe that premise.
"Now, in addition to that being completely wrong on so many levels, it's also a total misrepresentation over the climate change theory that I was attempting to explain," Ratigan said. "Let me be very clear - I do not believe that this storm is proof of climate change. And I do not believe that this storm is not proof of climate change. But I do believe that you, Mr. Beck, did a tremendous disservice to your viewers by bastardizing the most basic science behind the theory, period. That's not very good."
Ratigan then revealed his own Glenn Beck-style chalkboard to play amateur climatologist and make the case that this winter precipitation "could" be the result of global warming. He also showed the temperature has increased based on U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models.
"But thankfully, guess who else has a chalkboard," Ratigan said. "Mr. Beck, let me try to explain this to you once again. There is a data set from the U.N. that claims that there has been a global temperature rise over the past 100 years or so of about 1.3 degrees. Come on in here, you can take a look at it. The theory basically states that the warmer climate would cause higher ocean temperatures, which means more ocean water evaporating. Think of this yellow line as the temperature curve. Sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold. A hundred years ago, think of this line as the new temperature curve. Sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold and the average change between hot and cold running at 1.3 degrees."
What Ratigan didn't explain was why the previous snowfall record occurred back in 1899, more than 100 years ago or question the plausibility IPCC models after the ClimateGate scandal. Instead, he went with carrying the global warming alarmist argument that these storms could have been caused by global warming.
"The idea basically that warmer air, yeah, warm, you can do this, yes, warm air, my handwriting's not so great, but you get the point. As warmer air goes up, it takes H20, water, into the air. More water in the air results in more precipitation on earth. You know what the saying is, after all. What goes up must come down. Now, it might come back as more snow. It also might come back as more rain, depending on the temperature, hot or cold, on the specific place on the earth at the time."
To his credit, for the first time Ratigan not only attacked conservative opponents of the anthropogenic climate change theory, but also those who have used it politically, like former Vice President Al Gore, to promote enacting policy to combat the threat with fear.
"Let's be phenomenally clear, Mr. Beck - I do not believe this storm is proof of climate change, nor have I ever said as much," Ratigan said. "My point very simply was that strong winter storms like the one so many in this country have lived through over the past couple of days do not by any stretch of the imagination rule out climate change as conservatives like Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and yourself have suggested. At the same time, it is equally dumb for anyone to say that these storms do somehow prove that climate change is actually happening. One thing we can probably agree on Glenn is that I think the fear-mongering among the many climate change proponents, like Al Gore for example, is completely out of whack with the current body of scientific evidence."
Ratigan patted himself on the back for "extensively and personally" covering ClimateGate, even though he still gave credence to the IPCC models. And he also challenged Beck to take him on one-on-one and brandished his own version of Beck's famous red phone.
"To that end, I also covered the reports of climate data manipulation extensively and personally felt like it was a disgusting breach of scientific ethics," Ratigan said. "But I also know that you can cover the climate change debate without reducing yourself to this level of stupidity, just to have fodder for your lefty-righty games. So, Glenn, the next time you'd like me to explain something that was said on this show, or otherwise, we have red phones, too. You can call me, invite me on your show if you'd like. You can come on mine unless that sort of in-context direct engagement scares you a little too much."
