'No doubt' Hurricane Ian fed by 'global warming,' MSNBC hosts argue

close

Video

MSNBC's Joy Reid: 'There's no doubt' hurricanes affected by global warming

MSNBC hosts Joy Reid and Ali Velshi discussed global warming, climate change and its impact on Hurricane Ian during live coverage of the storm on Wednesday.

"The ReidOut" host Joy Reid took time during ongoing Hurricane Ian coverage on Wednesday to rage about global warming with her fellow MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi.

Hurricane Ian officially hit Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm. Millions of Florida citizens have evacuated with millions having already lost power due to the storm.

As Velshi reported on the impact of the storm live, Reid took the time to discuss global warming, which she claimed was what allowed hurricanes to "thrive."

"There is a lot that has changed about the earth that has made these things worse, right? These things are thriving because the water is getting warmer. We stopped calling it global warming for political reasons, but that’s what it is. Our earth is getting warmer and there’s just no doubt, I think, left that it is feeding these beasts," Reid said.

A map of Hurricane Ian approaching the coast of Florida.  (NOAA via Getty Images)

HURRICANE IAN DOING ‘CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE’ TO FLORIDA: BYRON DONALDS 

Velshi agreed with Reid’s sentiment, suggesting that Hurricane Ian’s intensity is the result of climate change.

"Where it comes out is the intensity. People say there have been hurricanes for millennia. Well, that’s true but sometimes we get ones that are so much more damaging and so much more intense," Velshi said.

He added, "It’s good we talk about these things in the moment because lots of times over the years when I brought it up, people say, ‘Now is not the time to talk about it.’ Now is the time to talk about it because people are paying attention to how damaging these things are. That does mean taking into account how you build things and how you account for it, which is fine in places like Naples here where you can build stuff that’s off the ground. What about in poor areas where people don’t have the money to rebuild? What about what happened in New Orleans during Katrina? This is why we have to think about climate change in relation to severe weather, in relation to how people can actually mitigate it." 

Joy Reid admitted that people stopped using the term "global warming" for political reasons. (Noah Berger/AP)

AS HURRICANE IAN CLOSES IN ON FLORIDA, ‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOST JOY BEHAR SLAMS DESANTIS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE COMMENTS 

Reid further insisted migration, like Florida citizens evacuating for the hurricane, will increase due to increased global warming caused by mankind.

"The reality is humans, we are literally running from what the climate change that we’re pretending isn’t happening. But we’re physically being moved around the earth because of it," Reid said.

"It will actually be the single biggest cause of migration," Velshi responded.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He concluded, "Generally speaking, prosperous people can move first because they can afford to, but eventually when the grains stop growing or the fields keep flooding, the poor people move, too. We’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that that’s going to be the major cause for migration around the world and here in America. It is really hard to live in places that get hit by tornadoes and get hit by hurricanes on an ongoing basis. You can’t make a living out of it. That’s a really important and necessary consideration."

MSNBC host Joy Reid has frequently attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis, including about the hurricane. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women | Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Other media pundits on CNN and MSNBC have mocked Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., in the wake of Hurricane Ian hitting his state for his past history of undermining climate change advocates.