Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' Falsely Claims Not Many Countries Beside U.S. Have Tornadoes

Bill Nye "The Science Guy" was on Fox News's "America's News Headquarters" Saturday trying to make the case that despite it being "very difficult to mathematically connect" this year's tornado activity to global warming, "Tornadoes are almost certainly a consequence."

When host Uma Pemmaraju asked a seemingly simple question, "Are other countries seeing the same type of activity, the intensity of these tornadoes picking up in those regions as well," "The Science Guy" first seemed completely stumped, and then gave a rather absurd answer (video follows with transcript and commentary):

BILL NYE: The tornadoes very difficult to mathematically connect to climate change, but the rains, the extra warmth in the atmosphere, the extra water vapor in the atmosphere, that’s, those are facts. That’s the real deal. Now, we, we are patriots. We are from the U.S. I am. And you would like the U.S. to be the leader in addressing this problem. We would like to be out in front in trying to deal with whatever it is that’s holding in all this heat and creating all this extra water vapor in the atmosphere. Tornadoes are almost certainly a consequence.

It is indeed telling that "The Science Guy" didn't once mention the impact of this year's La Niña on tornado activity which most climatologists and meteorologists on both sides of the global warming debate agree is largely the culprit.

On the other hand, what would you expect from a guy with a degree in mechanical engineering?

But the best was still to come when Pemmaraju asked a pretty simple question, and "The Science Guy" looked like he had been asked to prove Riemann's Hypothesis:

UMA PEMMARAJU, HOST AMERICA’S NEWS HEADQUARTERS: Are other countries seeing the same type of activity, the intensity of these tornadoes picking up in those regions as well?

NYE: Other countries?

PEMMARAJU: Other countries with tornadoes?

NYE: Well, there’s not that many other countries that have the configuration of North America to make tornadoes. And the word “hurricane,” you know, is a word coined in the Caribbean, like, so this is a unique, unique area in that regard. We have the Gulf of Mexico. We have this access for cold air from Canada or from the Arctic. And these two things conspire to move the jet stream, and then that helps carry this extra water vapor across this part of the North America. So, it’s a unique place, and you don’t have this kind, you don’t have tornadoes in Norway, for example. It’s just set up different, the weather’s set up differently. Here in the U.S. it’s a serious problem.

Well, not exactly.

Contrary to "The Science Guy's" odd view on this topic, tornadoes have been observed on every continent on this planet with the exception of Antartica. A study of insurance records across the globe finds tornadoes causing significant losses in Europe, India, Japan, South Africa, and Australia.

Although the United States typically has more tornadoes than any other country, as a function of land area, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom both actually have more.

Also contrary to today's conventional wisdom, Bangladesh is the nation with the most tornado-related deaths averaging 179 per year having also experienced the deadliest tornado in history on April 26, 1989, killing approximately 1300. That country has had at least 19 tornadoes that have killed more than 100 people, almost half the total of the rest of the world.

So much for "The Science Guy's" claim "there’s not that many other countries that have the configuration of North America to make tornadoes."

As for his statement "you don’t have tornadoes in Norway," take a gander at this:

And this near Mandal on Norway's south coast July 15, 2009:

The reality is Bill Nye "The Science Guy" appears to know absolutely nothing about tornadoes.

Why he's believed to be an expert about matters related to meteorology and climatology truly boggles the mind.