Last night Bill Nye the Science guy was on "Scarborough Country" and talked about the relationship between increased hurricane frequency and intensity and global warming.
Here is an excerpt from the show's transcript:
----------------
NYE: And, in my view, there is no question that global climate change will exacerbate the hurricane problem. When you have more heat in the atmosphere, these big cyclonic storms, as they are called, storms that go in a big cycle, a big circle, they are going to get bigger, both in the mid-Atlantic and in the Pacific Ocean. And this is consistent with every climate change model.

Now, whether or not Greenland is going to get a little warmer, Norway colder, the Pacific Northwest dryer, these are details that are very important. But, fundamentally, more heat energy in the atmosphere means more hurricanes and, in general, bigger ones.

The thing that—the thing is, see, though, if we all got to work on it right now, we could, as the saying goes, have it all. That is to say, we could have reduced energy use, less dependence on foreign oil. We could have a much higher quality of life for our citizens, and we could have a future without catastrophic global climate change, if we got on it right now.

So, I am hoping that these storms, as miserable as they are, I am hoping that the death and destruction as a result of this will not, if you will, be in vain. I am hoping we will take a cue that this is time to really address global climate change...

SCARBOROUGH: All right.

NYE: And, dare I say it, Joe, change the world.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, Bill Nye, let‘s try to do that tonight.
-------------

I'm hoping that the issue of climate change get's more and more coverage in the media. Although talking about it won't fix the problem, perhaps more awareness will bring about more action. What would be good to see is more analysis and debate of how government policy can address the problems, and how private industry can be encouraged to be part of the solution. The recent energy bill passed by the federal government did not get nearly as much discussion and analysis in the media before it was drafted and after it was voted on. A Washington Post article highlights how the energy bill is yet another squandered opportunity for this country to get on the right track. The CATO institute also has an article that is heavily critical of the energy bill. There needs to be more coverage of these issues in the mainstream media. I think "Scarborough Country" and the MSM in general will need to do a better job of addressing big issues like this and try a lot harder if they are going to try to change the world (for the better).

This is a great article published by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) that shows, through quantitative analysis, how the MSM have failed to accurately present the scientific consensus behind global warming and how the majority of the reporting on climate change is misleading people to conclude that there is some kind of scientific debate about whether or not human activity is contributing global warming. In a previous post I linked to this article, by Science Magazine, which demonstrates the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. I just wish the MSM weren't so ignorant about science and would stop trying to tell "both sides" of a scientifically proven, well-understood and widely accepted phenomena.