The acting director of the National Hurricane Center cautioned CNN host Don Lemon against directly linking Hurricane Ian to climate change in an interview Tuesday night.
Jamie Roam joins Lemon to discuss his show “Don Lemon Tonight” Ian’s expected effect Before its landfall in Florida, when the generous host questioned how climate change was affecting the hurricane.
“Can you tell us what it is and what is the effect of climate change on this phenomenon?” Lemon asked in relation to the “rapid intensification” of the storm.
Rome shrugged off the question.
“We can come back and talk about climate change later,” he said. “I want to focus on the here and now. We think the rapid intensification is probably almost done.”
However, Lemon did not give up on the issue.
“Listen, I’m just trying to get by, you said” [don’t] Want to talk about climate change – but what is the impact of climate change on this phenomenon that is happening right now?” he asked, doubling down. “Because it looks like these storms are intensifying. That’s the question.”
Romm then warned the news anchor against attributing climate change to any eventuality – although he acknowledged the belief that climate change could make storms stronger overall.
“I don’t think you can link climate change to a single event,” he replied. “Overall, overall, climate change could make hurricanes worse. But to link it to a single incident, I would caution against it.”
Here’s everything there is to know about Hurricane Ian:
Lemon seemed to contradict the expert’s answer.
“Listen, I grew up there [in Florida] And these storms are intensifying – something is intensifying them,” Lemon said.
He later said that when he was growing up on the Gulf Coast he never saw the storms of today’s strength.
On the same day, an affiliate of Rome at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – the parent agency of the National Hurricane Center – told Bloomberg Hurricanes are becoming more powerful due to warmer ocean waters due to climate change.
“This is a known effect of climate change,” NOAA oceanographer Greg Foltz told the outlet. “Severe storms are intensifying due to the increasing heat of the ocean.”
ian Made landfall in the Sunshine State As a Category 4 monster with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph on Wednesday. By evening, it had been converted to a Category 3 hurricane.