On Tuesday morning, CNN host Jim Acosta gave a forum to global warming alarmist Michael Mann to hype the current heat wave hitting the U.S. The liberal climate scientist went so far a to predict a "dead planet" where there is no economy if the world continues to use fossil fuels. "We will ultimately see, you know, a collapse of our entire societal infrastructure."
Good morning, we're cooked?
After recalling the heat wave in much of the U.S., Acosta cued up the doomsaying by asking Mann "what is driving this heat wave," leading the Penn State University researcher to predict:
As the planet warms up, we're going to see more frequent and more intense heat waves, but they're going to be more pervasive, and they're going to expand over a larger fraction of our summer until, if we completely fail to act on climate, we will be dealing with a perpetual heat wave. Summer will be a perpetual heat wave. It's up to us.
The CNN host then referred back to a graphic from earlier in the segment which hyped Pittsburgh's temperatures as being the hottest in 30 years:
Yeah, and I guess we sort of went very quickly past that graphic we show again to our viewers about Pittsburgh and the amount of heat that they're seeing in Pittsburgh right now. I mean, they haven't seen heat like this in 30 years -- last time Pittsburgh was 95 degrees for six days. I mean, that is -- that's pretty wild, Michael, I mean, it seems to me that we're seeing almost, you know, month after month, year after year, we're breaking records.
The issue of what caused a similar heat wave 30 years ago or why it took so long to happen again was not addressed.
Mann then blamed the burning of fossil fuels for a number of extreme weather events:
And, you know, it's the extreme heat right now in the Eastern and Central U.S.; record flooding down in Florida; and of course the wildfires out West now in New Mexico and California, more than 60,000 acres burning right now in California. And this is what we predicted. This is what we said we would be seeing if we failed to move away from fossil fuels -- to reduce carbon emissions. And, unfortunately, as climate scientists, the worst thing to experience is seeing your predictions come true. And that's what's happening.
The liberal researcher brought up his wild prediction of a dead planet a bit later:
ACOSTA: And how costly might this get for all of us in the years to come? Because, I mean, it's hard to imagine, you know, things getting worse than six days in a row of above 95 degrees in places like Pittsburgh or 20 inches of rain down in Florida or these wildfires that are breaking out all across the West.
MANN: You know, as they say, there is no economy on a dead planet. And so, of course, the more the planet warms up, the more of these devastating consequences, coastal inundation, these extreme weather events, impacts on human health, on national security. You know, we are dealing with an existential threat now. If we fail to do something, then, you know, forget about the economy -- there is no economy, as I said, on a dead planet. We will ultimately see, you know, a collapse of our entire societal infrastructure. It wasn't built for the levels of warmth that we will encounter in a matter of decades if we fail to reduce our carbon emissions.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom
June 18, 2024
10:28 a.m. Eastern
JIM ACOSTA: It is -- it's really hot across the country this week, and I suppose there are going to be folks who are going to brush this off and say, "Well, it's June. It's going to get hot. What is driving this heat wave that we're seeing right now across the country?
MICHAEL MANN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: Yeah, thanks, Jim. It's good to be with you. And, you know, this is an early heat wave. I mean, we're seeing the sort of heat that you really don't expect to see until well into July. We're seeing it here in mid-June. In my state, we're seeing triple digit numbers. As you mentioned, Pittsburgh, sort of record levels of warmth, and it's happening early. And that's sort of what we expect. As the planet warms up, we're going to see more frequent and more intense heat waves, but they're going to be more pervasive, and they're going to expand over a larger fraction of our summer until, if we completely fail to act on climate, we will be dealing with a perpetual heat wave. Summer will be a perpetual heat wave. It's up to us.
ACOSTA: Yeah, and I guess we sort of went very quickly past that graphic we show again to our viewers about Pittsburgh and the amount of heat that they're seeing in Pittsburgh right now. I mean, they haven't seen heat like this in 30 years -- last time Pittsburgh was 95 degrees for six days. I mean, that is -- that's pretty wild, Michael, I mean, it seems to me that we're seeing almost, you know, month after month, year after year, we're breaking records.
MANN: Yeah, we are. And, you know, it's the extreme heat right now in the Eastern and Central U.S.; record flooding down in Florida; and of course the wildfires out West now in New Mexico and California, more than 60,000 acres burning right now in California. And this is what we predicted. This is what we said we would be seeing if we failed to move away from fossil fuels -- to reduce carbon emissions. And, unfortunately, as climate scientists, the worst thing to experience is seeing your predictions come true. And that's what's happening.
ACOSTA: And how costly might this get for all of us in the years to come? Because, I mean, it's hard to imagine, you know, things getting worse than six days in a row of above 95 degrees in places like Pittsburgh or 20 inches of rain down in Florida or these wildfires that are breaking out all across the West.
MANN: You know, as they say, there is no economy on a dead planet. And so, of course, the more the planet warms up, the more of these devastating consequences, coastal inundation, these extreme weather events, impacts on human health, on national security. You know, we are dealing with an existential threat now. If we fail to do something, then, you know, forget about the economy -- there is no economy, as I said, on a dead planet. We will ultimately see, you know, a collapse of our entire societal infrastructure. It wasn't built for the levels of warmth that we will encounter in a matter of decades if we fail to reduce our carbon emissions.
