On Wednesday's Today show NBC's Ann Curry managed to thread the theme of global warming through three different news stories, during her 9am news update. The co-anchor began by notifying viewers about the "wild weather" of record rainfall and tornadoes in the South to snow in the Midwest and then told her audience that "unusual weather seems to be a growing trend" as she delivered the latest bit of alarmism coming out of a climate conference in Mexico. Curry then wrapped up her update with a quirky eco-friendly news story about a Tokyo aquarium that is using an electric eel to light up its Christmas tree.
The following series of news briefs from Curry were aired on the December 1 Today show:
ANN CURRY: Wild weather was one for the record books last night or overnight, with record rainfall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. Eleven reported tornadoes ripped through Mississippi with winds of up to 165mph. In the Midwest snow and sub zero temperatures snarled traffic and shut down schools.
And unusual weather seems to be a growing trend. Deadly, scorching heat waves could soon become the new normal for the summer, according to the World Meteorological Association, rather Organization, addressing a global climate conference currently underway in Mexico. And extreme heat isn't the only potential danger. The pattern of Atlantic hurricanes is shifting toward more frequent and more powerful category 4 and 5 storms according to the researchers in Mexico.
And it may not be the solution to global warming but it is a bright idea. An aquarium near Tokyo is using an electric eel - look at this - to light its Christmas tree. The muscle tissue of the fish generates up to 800 volts, enough to power up some holiday cheer.
-Geoffrey Dickens is the Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here [1]