In a recent radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that liberals had made up the idea of a polar vortex to justify their claim that the earth is warming. Limbaugh and other climate change deniers, often claim that unseasonably cold temperatures disprove the claims of global warming.
“Do you know what the polar vortex is? Have you ever heard of it? Well, they [the liberal media] just created it for this week.” -Rush Limbaugh
In response, meteorologist, Al Roker produced his 1959 textbook with the term in its glossary, and told those who claimed the polar vortex was made up to “stuff it.” Roker then followed up with a tweet saying “It’s meteorology 101. No political agenda.”
It is possible that Al Roker could have been more tactful, but with so much on the line it is important that a popular figure responds so forcefully to anti-science demagoguery. We’ve run out of time for evasive pleasantries. It is time to defend the earth, which means to demand that deniers either produce scientific evidence, or get out of the discussion..
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/08/stuff_it_limbaugh_al_roker_proves_that_the_polar_vortex_is_real/
“It is possible that Al Roker could have been more tactful…” Why should he? Limbaugh and his ilk seem to get their message across by being tactless and it seems to work! Even firefighters ‘fight fire with fire’.