Fox News' Harris Faulkner tried to do some quick spinning but only looked more ignorant after a geologist explained why global warming worsened the effects of today’s earthquake in Alaska.
John Rundle, professor of physics and geology at University of California, Davis, and director at the California Institute for Hazard Research of the University of California joined Faulkner’s Outnumbered Overtime show today to discuss the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that had originally triggered a tsunami warning.
Rundle talked about the role of loose permafrost in the quake. He said that it is “very, very able to flow” and that because of liquefaction, when the earth shakes, the ground “is able to flow.” That causes roads to “buckle and crack” and “destroys foundations,” Rundle added.
Faulkner called that “very interesting” and noted that when she lived in Minnesota, she saw “areas that never thawed.” Perhaps thinking she would get some ammunition for global warming skeptics, she asked for more information about the role of permafrost. Faulkner probably regretted doing so as soon as she heard Rundle’s response:
RUNDLE: Unfortunately, because of global warming, the permafrost is starting to thaw and, in fact, not only do you get situations like this but you also are getting a lot of methane and methane is a much more active global warming gas than the carbon dioxide, by a factor of four worse. So there are lots of problems associated with the thawing of permafrost.
Faulkner quickly changed the subject. But later, she came back to it.
FAULKNER: I know you mentioned some weather elements there and there’s a lot of disagreement on how we get to different places scientifically but I want to make it very clear: an earthquake is not meteorological, it’s geological and what you’re saying is that sometimes things like water can have an effect in an earthquake because of where this is located.
FACT CHECK: global warming is not a “weather element” but one of “climate,” a different subject. Furthermore, there is not “a lot of disagreement” among scientists about global warming. Nor did Rundle call an earthquake a "meteorological" event.
Harris ended the discussion before Rundle could respond.
Watch Harris reject the science of her own expert below, from Fox News' November 30, 2018 Outnumbered Overtime.
KINDA LIKE PRO WRESTLING ONLY DUMBER!