A number of MSNBC programs ran a Wednesday report that Al Roker, NBC’s weather host, hyperventilated over the last year. Roker attributed almost every type of unfavorable weather to climate change while also praising President Biden.
The report began: “2021, another blistering year of climate and weather extremes, from wildfires and drought, to catastrophic flooding and hurricanes.”
Then came a celebration of America’s re-entry into the Paris Climate Accord:
With one exception, this year seems to be picking up from 2020. Newly-elected President Joe Biden brings the U.S. back to the fold four years after pulling out of the Paris climate accord.
A deal was reached between world leaders, who pledged to take action to keep the Earth’s temperature from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to scientists, any increase in temperature above 2 degrees Celsius would lead to catastrophic consequences.
After the usual talk of catastrophic warming, he pulled a 180 and blamed Texas’s uncharacteristically cold winter on climate change: “With the climate changing faster than ever before, what unfolded in Texas may no longer be a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
A quick note here: not even the most alarmist climate scientist would agree that the climate is changing “faster than ever before.” In fact, global temperatures stagnated so remarkably over the past two decades that scientists created the term “the pause” to refer to the lack of rising temperatures.
Roker then shifted to seasonal wildfires or hurricanes. These were both he claimed as further evidence that the climate is out of control.
Al has a long history of blaming supposedly increased rates of hurricanes on anthropogenic climate change – despite the fact that even the NOAA admits the supposed “increase” in the rate of Atlantic tropical storm hurricanes is “not significantly distinguishable from zero.”
Biden is about to get his next attaboy
The bipartisan infrastructure bill, which was passed by both parties in November, helped address these mounting problems. It includes historic funding levels for climate resilience, weatherization and clean energy investments. Also, it caps orphaned oil-and gas wells.
From droughts in arid regions, to tornadoes in tornado alley, to hurricanes hitting coastlines, no predictable weather pattern escaped Roker’s watchful eye. By the end of the report, it had become apparent that his definition of “extremes” was not significantly distinguishable from what the rest of humanity refers to simply as “weather.”
Click “expand” below to read a full transcript of Roker’s report.
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
12/29/2021
12:47 – 12:52 pm ESTAL ROKER 2021 is another year full of extreme weather and climate events, including wildfires, droughts, and catastrophic flooding, and hurricanes. Almost no state escaping unscathed. With one exception, this year seems to have picked up from 2020. Newly-elected President Joe Biden brings the United States back to the fold four years after the U.S. pulled out of the Paris climate accord.
JOE BIDEN, THE PRESIDENT : We cannot delay the climate crisis or do what is necessary to mitigate it.
ROKER: This agreement brings together leaders from around the world who have pledged to keep Earth’s temperature below 1.5 degrees celsius. Researchers warn that any temperature rise above 2 degrees C would cause catastrophic effects. Texas was hit hard by an extreme cold snap that saw the temperature drop to minus 2 degrees. This occurred as winter continued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE – We’ve been without water for 10 days. The first few days were spent collecting and melting snow.
ROKER: The climate is changing so fast that Texas’s events may not be an once in a lifetime event. This tragic event exposed one of America’s most vulnerable parts: the crumbling, ill-equipped infrastructure. It was the sporadic weather patterns linked to climate change in the north that caused a rare heat wave in the region. This resulted in some of its highest ever recorded temperatures. High temperatures reached well beyond 100° in Portland, Seattle and other parts of Canada. Washington and Oregon are home to at least 228 of the world’s most-deadly diseases.
Unidentified Female: Electricity was turned on. It was quickly getting warmer.
ROKER: 2021 marks the start of an unprecedented heat wave. It will be remembered as the United States’ hottest ever summer. For months, mega-fires raged in the West. Oregon’s largest fire, the Bootleg in Oregon, blazed more than 413,000 acres. California’s Dixie Fire became the 2nd largest ever to scorch areas of California.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It wasn’t clear where I was and whose house I belonged to, it was just a deserted area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We’re just grateful to be alive. Our shared humanity is what we have.
ROKER. While the 2021 hurricane season wasn’t as successful as that of 2020, it was nonetheless a great success. There were 21 named hurricanes. Seven of these were hurricanes. Louisiana still recovers from Hurricane Ida’s four last-year landfalls. Category 4 hurricane Ida lashed Louisiana.
ROKER [ON-SCREEN]This storm is expected to hit land soon.
ROKER – The devastating hurricane flattens entire towns, leaving millions without power in Louisiana. Some outages lasted for many months. Ida created a trail of destruction in the northeast and poured up to 10 inches rain on some areas. There were several areas that saw all-time records for September’s first night. New York City took a direct blow from the tropical storm. The subways turned into flood walls and cars were forced down the streets by flooding. Residents were trapped in their basements as the storm turned deadly.
The east was flooded, but the west became bone dry in the second decade of severe drought. Lake Meade dropped to the lowest ever recorded level, prompting unprecedented restrictions on how much water states can use from Colorado’s river system. Arizona agriculture was the most affected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE – The pie is shrinking, and everyone will have less water in the 21st Century.
ROKER. In November, the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill was approved to help deal with the growing problems. This bill includes unprecedented levels of funding to climate resilience and weatherization as well as clean energy investments and a cap on abandoned oil and gas wells.
BIDEN – Despite all the criticism, Democrats and Republicans have the ability to come together and produce results.
ROKER – This should have been the end of the story, but it was not until December when an unusually wild, extreme week of weather hit. Numerous towns and villages were damaged and destroyed by tornadoes which ripped through Kentucky, and the neighboring states. Entire communities left in ruins.
Unidentified FEMALE MAYFELLIN: Mayfield will be fine. It will be long.
AL ROKER – Five days later, the historic storm that left destruction all along the coast of California and into the Great Lakes was wiped out. Minnesota was the victim of its first tornado in December. The country is now bracing for the next year of extreme weather as it tries to recover from the pandemic that hit in 2021.
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