Bad Astronomy

Jimmy Kimmel: Climate Hero

She is not here to, um, mess with you.

Jimmy Kimmel/ABC

I have so much to say about it, but really, just watch this (note: lots of bleeped swearing for comedic effect, including from a kid, if that kind of thing offends you):

There are so many great lines in this segment, but I think my favorite is this:

You know how you know when climate change is real? When the hottest year on record is whatever year it currently is.

Yup. Well, that, plus when it keeps happening year after year. When we’ve had at least six months in a row of record-breaking heat, when the 16 hottest years since 1880 are all in the past 17 years, when 97 percent of climate scientists agree, and heck, when Sarah Palin thinks it’s wrong, then yes, we’re in serious trouble.

And yet the networks and media still think giving air to a climate change denier is a good idea. Incidentally, as Media Matters points out, there are more climate scientists in that Jimmy Kimmel video than were interviewed on ABC’s top news shows in all of 2015.

And this is why I still focus on the reality of climate change. Because too many people in charge of you getting your information won’t.

We can’t work on solutions until we get our politicians to admit the problem even exists. Remember: November is coming.