At the top of Saturday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt scared viewers with a
n ominous declaration: "Disaster
warning. Scientists sound the alarm. If you think this season's wild
weather is extreme, wait until you hear what's to come." Introducing
the later report, Holt wondered: "...what has been causing all this
strange and extreme weather we've been seeing in recent months?"
Holt predicted "a lot more come" as he touted a "new report out this
week brought deepening concern about climate change." Environmental
correspondent Anne Thompson described the "wacky and unpredictable
winter" with "more than 6,000 daily record highs broken" in the U.S. and
"an arctic blasts killing hundreds" in Europe.
Thompson
warned: "Scientists say ping-ponging between weather extremes may be an
indicator of a much bigger problem: the heat trapping gasses of climate
change...Dr. David Easterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration is a co-author of a United Nations report out this week
that points to climate change as leading to extreme weather events since
1950."
Easterling announced: "The unusually warm days and nights, and to some
extent heat waves, you can actually begin making that link between
climate change and those events."
Thompson admitted that scientists like Easterling were not "sure if
climate change has played a role in the deadly tornadoes that have
roared across the US in recent years." But still concluded that they
were "connecting some of the dots between how we power the planet – burning oil, gas and coal – and our seemingly unusual weather."
On the March 15 Nightly News [1],
anchor Brian Williams promoted another fearmongering report, declaring:
"And tonight there is a new projection that rising seas due to climate
change could cause a whole lot of damage much sooner than anyone had
previously thought."
Here is a full transcript of the March 31 report:
6:30PM ET TEASE:
LESTER HOLT: Disaster warning. Scientists sound the alarm. If you think
this season's wild weather is extreme, wait until you hear what's to
come.
6:43PM ET TEASE:
HOLT: When NBC Nightly News continues, scientists sound the alarm about
our wild extreme weather and what's in store for our future.
6:46PM ET SEGMENT:
LESTER HOLT: We're back now with a question on many people's minds,
what has been causing all this strange and extreme weather we've been
seeing in recent months? There may be a lot more to come as a new report
out this week brought deepening concern about climate change. NBC's
chief environmental correspondent Anne Thompson has more.
ANNE THOMPSON: It's been a wacky and unpredictable winter. Not much
snow and cold in the US. In March alone, more than 6,000 daily record
highs broken. Snow blanketed parts of Eastern Europe in February, an
arctic blasts killing hundreds. But elsewhere, people are relishing a
premature case of spring fever, including here in Scotland, where the
daffodils are out early and so are the beach-goers. March 2012 is one
for the Scottish record books, with the thermometer climbing as high as
74 degrees when it should hover around 50. Perfect weather to stretch
the legs.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This time of year, it's usually, you know, pretty
stormy. So it's – we just got to savor the moment. Luckily for me, it's
my long weekend, so I can enjoy it, you know.
THOMPSON: But scientists say ping-ponging between weather extremes may
be an indicator of a much bigger problem: the heat trapping gasses of
climate change.
DAVID EASTERLING: The warming that we've seen actually increases the
chances, kinds of loads the dice that we're going to see these kinds of
events more often.
THOMPSON: Dr. David Easterling of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration is a co-author of a United Nations report out this week
that points to climate change as leading to extreme weather events since
1950.
EASTERLING: The unusually warm days and nights, and to some extent heat
waves, you can actually begin making that link between climate change
and those events.
THOMPSON: They also link climate change to heavy precipitation and the
floods that follow. Some scientists now wonder if the decline in Arctic
Sea ice is altering the course of the jet stream and our weather.
EASTERLING: It's going to impact the climate, but right now we're not exactly sure how that is impacting the climate.
THOMPSON: Nor are they sure if climate change has played a role in the
deadly tornadoes that have roared across the US in recent years. Science
connecting some of the dots between how we power the planet – burning
oil, gas and coal – and our seemingly unusual weather. Anne Thompson,
NBC News, Aberdeen, Scotland.
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.