Skip to main content

Trending

  • Clay Travis
  • Crime
  • Shutdown

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Trending

  • Clay Travis
  • Crime
  • Shutdown

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Fox-Hurricane-Ida-Climate
Andrea Austria / Media Matters

As Hurricane Ian hits Florida, Fox News undermines climate change

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Alicia Sadowski

Published 09/27/22 11:15 PM EDT

As Floridians prepared for landfall from Hurricane Ian, Fox News focused on climate denial. The storm, a catastrophic Category 4, could be the first to inundate Tampa in over a century, and already poses “serious risks” to the Gulf Coast.

Jesse Watters used the storm to mock climate action and later Tucker Carlson referred to severity warnings as a  “scam,” though he did admit that the threat from Ian was real.

And within an hour of the Cuban Ministry of Mines and Energy announcing that the entire island’s power grid had collapsed in the wake of the storm, Sean Hannity declared Democrats noting climate change’s potential impacts on hurricanes  were “politicizing a tragedy.” He hosted his favorite climate denier Joe Bastardi to emphasize that hurricane frequency in Florida has not increased.

Video file

Citation From the September 27, 2022, edition of Fox News' Hannity 

By focusing only on Florida’s past frequency of storms, Bastardi omitted a crucial climate impact of hurricanes. As global warming causes ocean temperatures to rise, the warmer water fuels higher winds that can intensify more quickly, creating storms with a greater likelihood of reaching intense Category 4 or 5 levels.

As the AP noted:

Fox prime-time’s flippant attacks on scientific reality are not surprising, however, as the network continues to launch unhinged attacks and carry on their legacy of climate denial.

The Latest

  1. Angelo Carusone on MSNBC: Biden impeachment and potential shutdown expose GOP's shift to extremism under right-wing media's influence

    Video & Audio 09/30/23 8:52 PM EDT

  2. Fox News’ Jesse Watters claims Senator Robert Menendez is the victim of a CIA smear as part of a conspiracy to help Democrats

    Video & Audio 09/29/23 9:30 PM EDT

  3. As a government shutdown looms, right-wing media figures continue to champion a shutdown and downplay its costs

    Research/Study 09/29/23 5:43 PM EDT

  4. Sean Hannity fantasizes about a deadly terror attack he can blame on Joe Biden

    Video & Audio 09/29/23 4:45 PM EDT

  5. Right-wing media defense of Trump's fraud is to wildly inflate the value of Mar-a-Lago

    Article 09/29/23 3:50 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Sean Hannity

    Sean-Hannity-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Joe Bastardi

    joe-bastardi_mmfa_tag

Related

  1. As a government shutdown looms, right-wing media figures continue to champion a shutdown and downplay its costs

    Research/Study 09/29/23 5:43 PM EDT

  2. Sean Hannity fantasizes about a deadly terror attack he can blame on Joe Biden

    Video & Audio 09/29/23 4:45 PM EDT

  3. After disastrous first impeachment hearing, House GOP chairs retreat to Hannity

    Article 09/29/23 12:12 PM EDT

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates

Footer menu

  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2023 Media Matters for America