Prior to Hurricane Ian, this has been the quietest start to hurricane season in 30 years. But the climate alarmists are going to alarm us.
DON LEMON: What effect does climate change have on this phenomenon, that is happening now because it seems these storms are intensifying, that's the question.
JAMIE ROHME: I don't think you can link climate change to any one event . . . to any one event, I would caution against that.
LEMON: Look, I grew up there, and these storms are intensifying.
Intensifying, remember that word, the new word from Climate Change Davos, the EU, and the WEF that has been inserted into the non-debate over climate change.
Now what's the truth here, let's just stick to the facts about the frequency and intensification of the hurricanes.
SHELLENBERGER: Yeah, the basic facts is that there's been no increase in landfall in hurricanes over the last 120 years; in fact, there's a slight decline. There is no science supporting the idea that hurricanes have become more frequent. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, NOAA, predicts that the frequency of hurricanes will actually decline by 25%. They also expect that they'll intensify by 5% but they are not intensifying right now. So any perception that hurricanes are more intense is just a perception fed by that relentless, alarmist media. I think also there's just a lot more people that live in hurricane alley and we're much more resilient to extreme weather events. So there's just a lot more people experiencing hurricanes because we're just so wealthy and prosperous and there's so many more of us, so I think that's what creates this false perception.
INGRAM: A lot of emotions that are pouring out of people while they watch the hurricane on television.
SHELLENBERGER: Yeah, that's right. It's the manipulation of people's feelings. It's good to feel compassionate for the people that are struggling under extreme weather events, that's a positive feeling. But I you get this manipulation of emotion. There is something on the Left is that if you're serious about something, if you really care about something, then you'll exaggerate it. So you see this constant exaggeration of all these issues. Climate Change being the prime example of it. The fact of the matter is that deaths from natural disasters have been going down. The costs have not increased at all. The increased costs from hurricane damage is just that there's more wealth in harm's way. And so for that reason, we've actually seen the number of disasters, not extreme weather events, but disasters which are measured in deaths and costs has actually declined since the beginning of this [the 21st] century. And that's great news; it means we're actually becoming much more resilient, much more capable of dealing with these extreme weather events. It's actually a story of success, and our hearts go out to people suffering from extreme weather, but the big picture is it's really been an incredible success story for people living in the United States and societies around the world.
INGRAM: Just to give you a little gift, Michael, here's Joy Reid
SHELLENBERGER: It's become a religion, Laura. It's an apocalyptic religion, a kind of reversion to the sphere of the Sky Gods. It's a pagan religion, this irrational fear, and obvious they're trying to attract eyeballs too. It's a manipulation. It's bizarre. And obviously the real threat isn't from climate change, it's from climate change policies that make energy scarce and expensive, like you were just talking about with the disaster that's unfolding in Europe. We have to make sure that doesn't happen here. Abundant energy is the key, and much of that agenda to hype climate change is about stifling domestic energy production, making energy scarce and expensive, so we really have to guard against that.
INGRAM: And doing things like banning natural gas appliances, which is taking root all over the United States, these local bans, Santa Barbara I remember started it, now it's moving across into New York and other places, it's just going to make people's lives more miserable and make people have a lower standard of living.
Shellenberger's book, Apocalypse Never, 2020.
