MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday was among those who mocked Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) for his latest dismissal of climate change, saying the GOP lawmaker came “so close to figuring it out.”
Loudermilk, talking with Fox Business’s Stuart Varney about incoming Hurricane Idalia, lamented how global warming had (usually correctly) become the go-to explanation for extreme weather events.
“I’m not a scientist Stuart but it’s amazing that anything that happens that is bad, the first thing that many want to do is blame it on climate change,” he said.
“I think we’re on the anniversary of Katrina, today, one of the worst storms in history,” the Georgia Republican continued. “If it was climate change, if it’s continuing to get worse, then would you not see more and more? Or this storm being worse and worse?”
Hurricanes and other big weather events are becoming more frequent and powerful, though.
On its website, the Environmental Protection Agency notes how “cyclone intensity has risen noticeably over the past 20 years.”
“Climate change is expected to affect tropical cyclones by increasing sea surface temperatures, a key factor that influences cyclone formation and behavior,” it adds.
NASA, meanwhile, predicts that “due to global warming” hurricanes “will likely cause more intense rainfall and have an an increased coastal flood risk due to higher storm surge caused by rising seas.”
“The global frequency of storms may decrease or remain unchanged, but hurricanes that form are more likely to become intense,” it adds.