Charlie Rose Wonders if Extreme Cold Snap 'Definitely Connected to Global Warming'

Matthew Balan | January 6, 2014
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[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]

On Monday's CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose predictably placed the blame for the unusually cold weather in North America on climate change. Rose wondered, "Is it definitely connected to global warming?"

Rose and co-anchor Norah O'Donnell turned to climate change alarmist Bryan Walsh of Time magazine, who only cited vague "theories...that some of the warming...you're seeing up in the Arctic might be changing the atmospheric circulation in that part of the world...and maybe, makes these cold spells a little more likely than they otherwise be."

The transcript from the 6 January 2014 edition of CBS This Morning:

CHARLIE ROSE: Is it stronger/weaker this year than it has been in the past?

BRYAN WALSH, TIME SENIOR EDITOR: ...There is – some theories, actually, that some of the warming, actually, you're seeing up in the Arctic might be changing the atmospheric circulation in that part of the world – actually causing those winds to weaken, and maybe, makes these cold spells a little more likely than they otherwise be....We had a few strong snowstorms – this despite the fact that we're still seeing warming happening in the winter and the rest of the year. So, there is some theory that, maybe, this is changing the atmosphere, making it more likely.

NORAH O'DONNELL: ...I mean, this is the first time I've heard the phrase 'polar vortex', and I don't feel I'm out of it. I mean, were you familiar with it?

WALSH: I was not that familiar with it – no – but now, of course, it's one of those terms that's –  that's everywhere....

ROSE: Is it definitely connected to global warming?

WALSH: Potentially, it's connected to that-

ROSE: Potentially-

WALSH: These, these – been happening already. What's new, perhaps, is the fact that the winds may actually [be] weakening. That could be due to warming in the Arctic; changing the atmospheric circulation; therefore, making it more likely for that cold, dense air to escape the vortex – spill down to us.

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