CNN host Don Lemon tried and failed to get Jamie Rohme, the acting director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane center, to blame Hurricane Ian on Climate Change.
During an interview on Tuesday night, Lemon asked, “Can you tell us what this is and what effect Climate Change has on this?”
Rohme did not expound on the Climate Change part as he said, “We can come back and talk about Climate Change at a later time. I want to focus on the here and now.”
He went on to say he believes there will be no more “rapid intensification” of the storm.
However, Lemon asked again, “What effect does Climate Change have on this phenomenon? Because it seems these storms are intensifying.”
“I don’t think you can link Climate Change to any one event on the whole. On the cumulative, Climate Change may be making storms worse,” Rohme responded.
Lemon replied, “Listen, I grew up there and these storms are intensifying. Something is causing them to intensify.”
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Lemon’s comments came as Florida was bracing for Hurricane Ian.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday morning the storm had begun to make landfall with winds near Category 5 status.