Bill Nye "The Science Guy" found himself in the tough position Monday of explaining science to Fox Business guest host Charles Payne.
Payne began the Freedom Watch segment by pressing Nye to prove that Hurricane Irene was caused by global warming.
"I don't think the word proof is what you are looking for," Nye told Payne. "Evidence or result of? Yeah."
"Here's the thing though, Bill," Payne said. "Ever since Katrina, we heard that the hurricane season is going to be more devastating and it was apocalyptic and the end of the world. And the reality is we haven't seen that. So, how can Newsweek say this is a new normal? Is this irresponsible or is there any science behind that?"
"Well, there's a lot more science behind it than saying it's not," Nye flatly stated. "But that aside, that's only six years. In geologic times or in terms of climate events, that's not very long."
"The world is getting warmer, everybody. The world is getting warmer... Do we not agree the world is getting warmer?"
"I have no idea," Payne admitted. "Someone told me it's one degree in the last hundred years and I'll take their word for it."
The Fox Business host then changed the subject to Al Gore's suggestion that climate change deniers need to be confronted just as racists were confronted during the civil rights movement.
"[Gore is] very passionate about it," Nye explained. "As the world has become smaller -- this is to say that as communication has become better and better, and we get to know each other better, we all travel all over the world. It's routine to get on a plane and go to Asia and come back. As we get to know each other, we realize we are all one species; we are all the same human. But in tribal times, the importance of your tribe was so great that you were afraid of other tribes."
"If someone from New England has sex with someone from Papua, New Guinea, you get a human. You don't get anything else. So, racism is scientifically not especially compelling. If you learn the science of it, you let go of it. And when you learn the science of climate change, in my opinion, you will find it quite compelling and you will want to do something about it rather than pretend it doesn't happen."
"We brought you on because we knew you could connect the dots," Payne interrupted. "Although the route you've taken is still confusing some of the viewers."
