Video on climate change skepticism is old and claims that climate change is not happening: FALSE
CLAIM: A video resurfaced on Twitter where John Coleman, a co-founder of The Weather Channel, claimed that climate change was not happening and there was no man-made global warming.
The video, which suggested an interview with CNN, was shared by a Twitter user, Daniel Ginat. The video has since May 2 when it was posted, had over 543,000 views, 115 likes, and 40 retweets among other engagements.
“The facts are clear: climate change is not happening, and there is no man-made global warming,” the claim was extracted from the 2.19 minute video.
Isn’t this the best interview you’ve ever seen?
האם זה לא הראיון הטוב ביותר שראיתם בחייכם? pic.twitter.com/vDwyWrat9k
— Daniel Ginat (@DanielGinat) May 2, 2023
VERIFICATION: Investigations reveal that Coleman, a meteorologist, but now late, made the claim in 2014 on CNN’s “Reliable Sources”. In spite of his death in 2018, the old interview video is often re-shared by skeptics to refute the existence of climate change and global warming as a universal crisis.
Meanwhile, as against the claim of the late meteorologist, the scientific consensus is that Earth’s climate is warming and that human activities (primarily the human burning of fossil fuels) have warmed Earth’s surface and its ocean basins, which in turn have continued to impact Earth’s climate. This is based on over a century of scientific evidence forming the structural backbone of today’s civilisation.
Similarly, there have been previous reports that climate change is real and that greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity are driving climate change.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an entity consisting of more than 200 scientists, also said in a report released in February 2022 that human-induced climate change is already causing deadly extreme weather, such as drought, fires, and floods, and that the situation will get worse if global warming isn’t curbed.
“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,” the report said.
Investigation also discovered that when Coleman appeared on CNN’s interview, The Weather Channel’s parent company distanced itself from his comments. David Kenny, then CEO of the Weather Company, appeared on the same segment to respond, noting that Coleman hadn’t been involved at The Weather Channel for decades.
“The science is pretty clear about climate change,” Kenny said. “I think some people were confused to hear a statement from somebody who was noted as a co-founder of The Weather Channel, which is true, we’re grateful that he got it started 32 years ago. But he hasn’t been with us in 31 years, so he’s not really speaking for The Weather Channel in any way today,” said Kenny.
CONCLUSION: The claim by the late John Coleman, a meteorologist and co-founder of The Weather Channel that climate change is not happening and there was no man-made global warming, is FALSE. Scientists’ consensus is that climate change is real and human-induced.
This fact-check was produced by BONews Service with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact Checking Alliance network.