CNBC Anchor Argues ‘Puny, Gnawing Little Humans’ Can’t Change The Climate
CNBC Anchor Argues ‘Puny, Gnawing Little Humans’ Can’t Change The Climate
CNBC anchor Joe Kernen used Richard Lindzen’s grossly inaccurate column in today’s WSJ to repeatedly claim there is “no consensus” on whether global warming exists. Kernen suggests that “as old as the planet is” there is no way “puny, gnawing little humans” could change the climate in “70 years.” Watch it:
Kernen also claims that “99 percent” of the media is sure that global warming is real. Actually, “53 percent of articles in the mainstream media” cast doubt on global warming science. None of this doubt is express in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Transcript:
JOE: Alright, let’s take a look at one headline that caught my attention. It’s in the Wall Street Journal. It’s on the editorial page. It is written by a - the Alfred P. Sloan professor of atmospheric science at MIT. And the byline is, “There is no consensus on global warming.†And I like this little quote right here, “An Inconvenient Truth for Al Gore.†What right now - give me an honest answer - how sure is the media that global warming is real? Is it 99%?
CARL: I think they’re more 60/40, sure.
JOE: I think it’s 99 percent. And here, Leslie (?) “There was a clear attempt to establish truth, not by scientific methods, but by perpetual repetition,†which is a good point to make.
CHARLIE: Do you think there is no evidence to suggest that there is global warming?
JOE: I am not an expert. All I know is that the science, if you actually look at the science that there is no consensus at this point. And it’s pointed out by this gentleman, who I would definitely defer to him - I would defer to this guy before Al Gore.
CHARLIE: There is no scientific consensus. There is clearly a media consensus.
JOE: The arctic was warmer years ago. We saw an article a couple weeks ago about that, there is even more evidence presented here as to whether – I mean, we’re basing our whole future on human behavior causing this. And all our policies are based on it.
BECKY: I would say we don’t know exactly how much of this is something that happens every 11,000 years, how much of this is trends that have happened before. But we do know that for the first time it looks like there is scientific evidence that we as humans are having some sort of impact on how fast it’s happening.
JOE: if you read this, that’s open to speculation.
BECKY: your common sense - even if it’s not something we are entirely creating, doesn’t it tell you that we are having some impact on it.
JOE: It doesn’t tell me. As old as the planet is and our puny, gnawing little humans, for seventy years we’ve changed the whole - how long have hydrocarbons been around?
BECKY: I believe my dad. He’s a geologist. He tells me he thinks there’s some impact.
JOE: I just think there is room for you know - since you don’t see a movie and go, “Wow, it’s not a political argument, it’s a moral argument.†I don’t know. Watch the mail come in now.
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63 Responses to “CNBC Anchor Argues ‘Puny, Gnawing Little Humans’ Can’t Change The Climate”
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It’s getting hot in here.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:20 pmJust like puny, gnawing cancer cells can’t do any significant damage to human beings.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:20 pmTHE LOGIC OF CONSERVATIVES
In the face overwhelming evidence these people cant commit to scientific fact regarding global warming…….
But they can commit to Dick Cheney’s “1 PERCENT DOCTRINE” that has proven to be wrong time and time again…..
go figure
BLACK IS WHITE
June 26th, 2006 at 12:25 pmUP IS DOWN
WAR IS PEACE
I’m often surprised at the amazing displays of ignorance that come from people whose job is to impart information. And surprised as well as their lack of education in the sciences, in statistics, in … well, you name it. A “communication arts” major should have heavy requirements in science, math, nutrition, medicine, etc. Instead the major seems to be a way of skipping all that in favor of courses in speaking, hair styling, fashion, etc. :sigh: Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:26 pmI live in LA, I can tell verify that us puny, gnawing humans are having an effect on the enviroment. Check out the San Fernando valley, or Pasadena after a about 2 weeks with no rain. If you wash your car, you end up with a fine layer of dirt all over the vehicle in a couple of days.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:27 pmLook how much damage Bush’s puny brain has caused.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:27 pmIf Joe really wants to be controversial and get people riled up (better than actually trying to present factual news – according to his bosses) then I suggest he start making other statements for which “there is no clear scientific consensus†such as “Stuffing French fries up your nose prevents cancerâ€.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:27 pm“puny, gnawing little humans” sounds like the woefully ignorant form of the republican species
June 26th, 2006 at 12:28 pmwhen you’re sitting in an air-conditioned building 24/7/365, the weather stays the same all of the time.
Joe needs to get out more, take his blinders off, and open his mind other than to just what he thinks.
just a thought.
Send in 300,000 more troops to Iraq.
Send in 200,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
Send the entire US Congress to Baghdad, they can govern from there.
Send the entire executive branch to Kabul, they can wield their power from there.
Send the Pentagon chiefs with them.
Send the foreign service workers to Damascus.
Empty out Warshington, DC and send in a new crop of humans that actually give a damn about America.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:30 pm#3 “But they can commit to Dick Cheney’s “1 PERCENT DOCTRINE†that has proven to be wrong time and time again…..”
Hey, that’s an excellent point.
If Neocons really have the philosophy that a 1% chance of a threat is enough cause to go into action against a threat, then why the hell isn’t a 1% chance that humans cause global warming enough to take positive steps to stop it?
That is FAULTLESS logic. Let’s see how the trolls answer it. They can’t. They won’t — directly.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:32 pmsend the sut-ins from this site…..anywhere. just let em out for awhile
June 26th, 2006 at 12:32 pm6.4 billion people is ‘puny’? That guy’s got to invest in a distionary soon!
June 26th, 2006 at 12:32 pmConsensus doesn’t matter, nor does debate. Arguments put forth by puny humans won’t alter the effects.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:33 pmI HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE JOKERS WHO DISPUTE EXPERT ASSESSMENT OF GLOBAL WARMING AS I DID WITH THE UNINFORMED MASSES WHO VOTED FOR GEORGE BUSH AND WHO STILL FAIL TO REALIZE THAT DUBYA IS ILLEGITIMATE.
THESE JOKERS AND ZEALOTS (IDIOTS)WILL TAKE THE REST OF US DOWN WITH THEM!
June 26th, 2006 at 12:35 pm#2. dv909 — June 26, 2006 @ 12:20 pm
nice one
June 26th, 2006 at 12:36 pmPuny humans will never venture out into space. The world is too big to escape its gravity. Try jumping as high as you can. See? Give up now. You don’t have the power to change anything.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:37 pmKrazny: “If you wash your car, you end up with a fine layer of dirt all over the vehicle in a couple of days.” - - Days? I live in the SFV and washed my car yesterday morning, left it in the driveway and within 2 hours it was covered with particle crud. Love all those “leaf” blowers.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:37 pmJust like puny, gnawing cancer cells can’t do any significant damage to human beings.
Or puny little viruses or puny little bacteria or puny little fungus… and so on.
I think we should follow his logic and go back to thinking that illness is caused by evil spirits. Because I’m sure evil spirits are the ones who are actually warming the planet!!
June 26th, 2006 at 12:38 pmLOL,
Badmoon,
yeah it is pretty bad. especially with the moisture in the air. Freaking miserable out there right now.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:39 pmRepubs are really upset that global warming is raining on their parade of lies! They need to get a grip on reality and chill out!
June 26th, 2006 at 12:43 pmWe don’t need no stinking peer-reviewed journal articles. This is a faith-based nation and unbridled capitalism is our religion.
(Sarcasm off)
June 26th, 2006 at 12:43 pmre Mr. Kernen’s credentials and education - this is especially sad - from CNBC web site:
June 26th, 2006 at 12:48 pm“Kernen holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in molecular biology. At MIT, he worked on several cancer research projects.”
If these nutballs can argue that the Earth’s climate fluctuates naturally, due to natural causes, why can’t they see that as mankind causes changes to the climate, fluctuation will occur? By denouncing man’s affect on the environment they invalidate their own argument.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:50 pmBy this guy’s reasoning, we could set off all the nuclear bombs in the world and it won’t matter one bit, becuase we puny humans can’t affect the climate.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:51 pm“I am not an expert.” You don’t say. But he expects people to accept his point of view, as if his opinion carries some sort of weight in the scientific community. Typical Rightie mindset, it dosen’t matter what the facts are, if I don’t like them, I’ll just make up my own, and deny, deny, deny, anything to the contrary.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:55 pm#22. Lisa — June 26, 2006 @ 12:48 pm
He wouldn’t be the first to lie about his creds. And CNBC wouldn’t be the first employer to be duped.
June 26th, 2006 at 12:56 pmI can’t help it if his puny little brain can’t grasp basic concepts of chemistry and physics, but the bottom line for all of us is that the right will not publicly recognize the danger and that’s the way it’s going to stay. If we are going to save this lovely planet, we have to do it WITHOUT THEM. Unfortunately, they will benefit from liberal efforts to rein in pollution. They, too, will be able to breathe clean air, drink clean water. UNLESS… we can ask them to kindly attend their Armegeddon and leave us the HELL alone!
June 26th, 2006 at 1:01 pmTypical Rightie mindset, it dosen’t matter what the facts are, if I don’t like them, I’ll just make up my own, and deny, deny, deny, anything to the contrary.
Comment by Cyra Brown — June 26, 2006 @ 12:55 pm
Cyra,
That’s not too far from the truth, actually. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recomment David Brock’s great book The Republican Noise Machine. What you described is pretty much how they decided to get “their message” out over the past forty years. They made up their own facts and then tried to claim that issues weren’t “settled” because there was still debate. There was never “debate”, just conservatives nay-saying what they didn’t like.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:05 pmFunny that those puny gnawing insignificant humans CAN change the weather in a few hours thru weather modification.
But YOU know, the FACT is , there IS a whole school of thought, WE all KNOW this rule, that says, shouldn’t YOU, you know, the political pundits, just shut up and go away?
The earth, armageddon or not, will be around for a long time. If you know anyone has ever sucked on the tailpipe of a running vehicle you know it WILL kill you fairly quickly.
WMD needs only a small amount to kill. Snakes can kill with just a bit of venom. Some fish will certainly kill you with only a tiny bit of poison. So then it doesn’t take a large amount of
Ever been stung by a man o war?
So it does not take much to alter an evironment. Ever screw up the water in a aquarium?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:06 pmSay what did happen to the Bio-lab?
Oh yeh it failed….badly.
It’s time to stop the blame, gulping the fossil and start applying the sunscreen.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:12 pmPuny humans? The same puny humans whom religious conservatives claim were blessed by God and ordained to be the rulers (and, if need be, destroyers) of this poor suffering Earth on which we stand? Wow, the conservatives want it ALL, we’re weak, we’re mighty (though not almighty), there’s no such thing as global warming and evolution, but life starts at conception and using medical technology to sustain “life” is the will of God…the lack of a coherent logic makes it impossible to have a logical argument with them.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:15 pm“puny, gnawing little humans†sounds like more godspeak. Why would God let humans destroy his planet?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:19 pmNow now everyone don’t get so upppity after all the republican party are the royalaity party and everyone must and should pay homage to these crooks errr i mean royal reliogus god fearing jesusloving jakals…
Take a drive through the real Kentucky its shacks upon shacks and the poor are sacred to death. Drive by Fort Knox and see the towns oopps they aren’t there anylonger just closed up and just drugged out of their minds poor live within a stones throw of gates of Ft Knox. Took a wrong exit one day and wow did I ever see what real Kentuckians lived like its a crime!
June 26th, 2006 at 1:26 pmCan anyone say….Hack?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:26 pmPuny,gnawing little humans can live in paradise,or destroy the planet.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:29 pmWhen that happens, the sea level will rise dramatically overnight. Coastal zones, where some 1 billion people live, will be wiped out.
This will also hasten the demise of the polar icecaps.
How long can you tread water?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:33 pm“puny, gnawing little humansâ€
That line just smells of self-loathing, I think this guy has adequacy issues.
June 26th, 2006 at 1:50 pm#36 - Can you imagine the tsunami if/when this occurs?
June 26th, 2006 at 1:51 pmJOE: It doesn’t tell me. As old as the planet is and our puny, gnawing little humans, for seventy years we’ve changed the whole - how long have hydrocarbons been around?
June 26th, 2006 at 2:01 pmUnderground, Joe. They have been underground. Go see bacteria in the microscope. What do you know about climate, bozo?
#22, MIT ought to recall his MS. They apparently turned down the “car talk” guys offer to give a commencement speech, but they allow Kernen to flout his credentials on the airwaves?
I have long held the opinion that the more people hold advanced degrees the more extreme the excursions from the norm are getting.
June 26th, 2006 at 2:11 pmYes shutter the thought the man who unlocked the human genome should find a concept of God… he has to be extreme!
June 26th, 2006 at 3:11 pmPuny humans have been in a position to destroy the planet since the mid 60’s.
Where has this guy been? What a dismal failure of critical thinking these comments represent.
June 26th, 2006 at 3:48 pmclueless Joe lives in a very airtight vacuum impervious to ,well…living things
June 26th, 2006 at 3:53 pmPuny humans indeed.
June 26th, 2006 at 3:59 pmAs a CNBC viewer for over 7 years nothing Joe Kernen says suprises me. Joe Kernen is a man who interviewed hundreds of stock analysts from the largest brokerage houses from 1998 to 2002. They gave glowing recommendations of stocks shouting BUY BUY BUY. NEVER ONCE, FOR A PERIOD OF AT LEAST4 YEARS, DID JOE KERNEN ASK THE SIMPLE OBVIOUS QUESTION….Sir, do you own the stock you’re recommending?? The man is either stupid or getting paid under the table. P.S. CNBC also employs neo-con Larry Kudlow of “Kudlow and Company”. A couple weeks back he came one or two words short of asking someone in our CIA to please take care of Hugo Chavez. Can you ask for a man to be killed on TV? Where is the FCC?
June 26th, 2006 at 5:54 pmWhat a nut, it’s time for CNBC to consider firing this pretentious clown, same for that other BOZO Larry Kdulow. I will not watch this trash anymore until they take the politics out of business.
June 26th, 2006 at 6:20 pmone question: just where do die-hard members of the brain-dead backwash think all of the air pollutants created by mankind since the industrial revolution began some 125 years ago have gone, if not into our earth’s atmosphere?
June 26th, 2006 at 6:50 pm[…] And, to provide a sharp contrast, here’s the other sort of reporter, simply outgassing hot air, with not a fact in sight, just incorrect opinions—the type of reporter who should be barred from the profession. Crap like this is okay in a bar discussion, but it should never go over the public airways. This guy should be really, really ashamed. […]
June 26th, 2006 at 7:18 pmi understood from high school science class that the main source of oxygen in our atmosphere was prehistoric algae…millions and millions of teeny tiny little bitty insignificant organisms.
June 26th, 2006 at 7:44 pm“brain-dead backwash think all of the air pollutants created by mankind since the industrial revolution began some 125 years ago have gone, if not into our earth’s atmosphere? ”
How convenient that you liberals decide to shut down industrialization just as India and China are jumping on the band wagon. Do you really think what we do in the U.S. will make any difference?
There may be a million good reasons to clean up the environment in which we live, including what we put into our own bodies, but global warming isn’t one of them.
June 26th, 2006 at 9:11 pmIdiocy.
June 26th, 2006 at 10:33 pmLet us talk about the enviroment.
June 26th, 2006 at 11:05 pmThe early refrigerants were ozone depleting. Except for R-22. It was rated as .05 as an ozone depleting refrigerant.
All the new refrigerants are not ozone depleting refrigerants, but they are greenhouse gasses. On top of that they run at a higher head pressure (meaning, using more hydro) and are less effecient (meaning using more hydro).
R-22 has been proven to be more efficient and cheeper to manufacture than all the new refrigerants. Even though that R-22 has more than trippled in price in the last few years.
Is this about enviroment, economy or big business?
Figure it out!
#34
Yes it is called Apologista. All the Apologista will fare the same as the Adminisntration come the time of reckoning. And I ain’t talkin bout no gawd reckoning. I be talkin bout a Merican reckonin. When the Kentuckians mentioned in the post above yours by THOTS. We can’t reach THEM by blog, how do we reach those scared Wretched Refuse, that the Neo-Con Republicans have didcarded like the old tissue, 3/4 used during acold, only to be picked up again and again to use every square mm of tissue to wipe their sniveling, runny nose at lection time. To make the tissue feel useful in helping the body. But this time the body is infected WAYYY to badly by the GOP sickness. Major surgery is required to even consider saving the host being. Poor Uncle Sam. He’s got the big C. And we need to excise it from him.
June 27th, 2006 at 12:23 amThere is no way “puny, gnawing little humans†could change the climate in “70 years? How about 6 billion of them? These 6 billion people also need food and sadly many of them prefer BEEF. The farts and shit of all the cows that need to be fed in order to be able to feed these humans are allready enough to cause global warming. But that’s not all these puny, gnawing little humans do. They also like to drive around in fuel-driven cars, warm their homes with fuel-driven heating systems, take a vacation by plane, consume often useless products wrapped in more plastic than the product is worth.There can be 2 reasons only for not accepting humans as the main source of global warming: idiocy and malignance.
June 27th, 2006 at 6:55 amI am disappointed in Mr. Kernan. With a masters degree from MIT - he should know better. But like a typical right wing hack - he chooses party loyalty over intelligence.
Since being a right wing hack has obviously cancelled out whatever smarts Kernan may have once had to get into MIT - I will say this very slowly so that he can understand it:
“Experiments … conducted … on … Antartic … ice … cores … indicate … carbon … dioxide … is … at … its … highest … level … during … the … past … 650,000 … years …”
In addition, the EPICA scientists ( European Project for Ice Coning in Antarctica ) stated that:
” CO2 … is … about … 30% … higher … than … at … any … time, … and … methane … 130% … higher … than … at … any … time; … and … the … rates … of … increase … are … absolutely … exceptional: … for CO2, … 200 … times … faster … than … at … any … time … in … the … last … 650,000 years.”
Professor James White, a geology professor at the University of Colorado - Kernan’s undergraduate alma mater - says:
“CO2 and climate are like two people handcuffed to each other. Where one goes - the other must follow. Our current CO2 levels appear to be far out of balance when viewed through these results, reinforcing the idea that we have significant modern warming to go.”
Mr. Kernan - I imagine that you have made enough money reading teleprompters.
Quit CNBC and go back to school.
Maybe you’ll learn something this time.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:44 pm[…] RIGHT MANUFACTURES DEBATE ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING: "There is a debate over whether [climate change is] manmade or naturally caused," Bush said yesterday. Yet among scientists, the _debate has long been over_ (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686) . Rather than argue the science, the right has resorted to manufacturing scientific doubt where there is none. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran a column from a prominent climate skeptic that argued, "_There Is No ‘Consensus’ On Global Warming_ (http://thinkpr ogress.org/2006/06/26/wsj-gore/) ." Commentators on _CNBC picked up on the theme_ (http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/26/cnbc-climate/) later in the day, saying, "There is not scientific consensus." (One network anchor said there is no way "puny, gnawing little humans" could change the climate in "70 years.") The right wants the public to ignore scientific research that find "_human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming_ (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-sci-warming23jun23,1,2310…) ," and instead believe that we should wait for more research before we take action. […]
June 28th, 2006 at 4:44 pmWell Mr. Kernan, you and all like you should hope that when things come to pass as predicted, those of us that have known all along that you and your ilk are nothing more than lap dogs for the GOP don’t exile you to let’s say, the Florida Keys. That or you should start working on holding your breath for extended periods.
P.S. I wonder if any of you will feel even the slightest tinge of remorse for the millions of lives you are putting into harms way.
June 28th, 2006 at 7:47 pmSo-called Global Warming is NOT a fact; it is a belief. A few minutes at: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
; and may educate some of you, but not many ‘true believers’.
Everyone is entitled to the facts, but not to their own facts. I realize that for those of you who truly believe that you are “saving the planet” by ranting like Chicken Little over every variation from nature’s ‘norms’ that you expect to remain static, it is hard to accept facts instead of your own beliefs but they are true nonetheless. Political Science is not atmospheric science. That is part of your confusion and is led by Al Gore. So-called Global Warming is still NOT a fact; it remains as a belief.
Viking Brad in Arizona
June 29th, 2006 at 10:04 amWell Viking Brad, I hope you still feel this way when you realise that even after being warned you chose to continue to trash the environment. Start working on your explanation for your children and grandchildren as to why you didn’t care about the world you left them to live in.
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