Bill Nye Discusses Climate Change With Fox Business Network’s Charles Payne (VIDEO)

In a recent interview with the Fox Business Network, Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy) explained to host Charles Payne that Al Gore’s recent comments on the need for climate change discourse may not be far off point, especially when one considers the science behind it all.

The clip, available on Media Matters, aired just after Hurricane Irene had passed the East Coast of the U.S. It is from a segment of the show “Freedom Watch,” discussing a link between climate change and extreme weather.

At the beginning of the clip, Payne mentions a Newsweek article from May that suggests extreme weather is the “new normal” because of climate change.

When asked if Irene was “proof of global warming,” Nye patiently explained that it is likely “evidence” for or “a result of” global warming. He added that the climate modeling needed to actually determine this will take at least several months, but he seemed confident of what the results would be.

Payne also asked Nye if there was any science behind the post-Katrina prediction that extreme weather would only increase in the coming years. Nye replied, “Well there’s a lot more science behind it than saying it’s not.” He suggested that the six years since Hurricane Katrina is a relatively short period of time to see a definite trend emerge.

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with Weather Underground told HuffPost’s Lynne Peeples in a previous interview, “Sea levels around New York have gone up 13 inches over last hundred years … the five foot wall protecting Manhattan is one foot less able to keep water out than it was a century ago. This is going to be a kind of wake-up call for New York City: It’s the first time they’re going to have to evacuate from Zone A, and it’s not going to be the last.”

In a recent interview with the Fox Business Network, Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy) explained to host Charles Payne that Al Gore’s recent comments on the need for climate change discourse may not be far off point, especially when one considers the science behind it all.

The clip, available on Media Matters, aired just after Hurricane Irene had passed the East Coast of the U.S. It is from a segment of the show “Freedom Watch,” discussing a link between climate change and extreme weather.

At the beginning of the clip, Payne mentions a Newsweek article from May that suggests extreme weather is the “new normal” because of climate change.

When asked if Irene was “proof of global warming,” Nye patiently explained that it is likely “evidence” for or “a result of” global warming. He added that the climate modeling needed to actually determine this will take at least several months, but he seemed confident of what the results would be.

Payne also asked Nye if there was any science behind the post-Katrina prediction that extreme weather would only increase in the coming years. Nye replied, “Well there’s a lot more science behind it than saying it’s not.” He suggested that the six years since Hurricane Katrina is a relatively short period of time to see a definite trend emerge.

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with Weather Underground told HuffPost’s Lynne Peeples in a previous interview, “Sea levels around New York have gone up 13 inches over last hundred years … the five foot wall protecting Manhattan is one foot less able to keep water out than it was a century ago. This is going to be a kind of wake-up call for New York City: It’s the first time they’re going to have to evacuate from Zone A, and it’s not going to be the last.”