Uniquely among Monday’s broadcast evening newscasts, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams read a short item citing a "disheartening" report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicting that the world is in danger of suffering effects of global warming that will take 1,000 years to reverse unless "immediate action is taken to cut greenhouse gases." Williams: "The folks at NOAA ... say that if carbon dioxide continues to build up unchecked in our atmosphere, then the effects of global warming could be irreversible for more than a thousand years. That could mean severe drought in some parts of the world. Researchers conclude things are not hopeless as long as immediate action is taken to cut greenhouse gases."
Below is a complete transcript of the item from the Monday, January 26, NBC Nightly News, as read by Williams:
Meantime, the federal government is out tonight with a disheartening finding on the environment. The folks at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say that if carbon dioxide continues to build up unchecked in our atmosphere, then the effects of global warming could be irreversible for more than a thousand years. That could mean severe drought in some parts of the world. Researchers conclude things are not hopeless as long as immediate action is taken to cut greenhouse gases.
