Ocasio-Cortez's Intelligence Questioned by Meteorologist After Latest 'Climate Crisis' Remark
A tornado warning was issued as a storm blasted Washington, D.C., on Thursday, prompting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to link the conditions to climate change, a theory that a meteorologist debunked on Twitter.
The freshman lawmaker shared a video showing the stormy conditions on her Instagram.
“There’s people stuck outside. We need to get them out,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the video. “This is crazy.”
Ocasio-Cortez used the opportunity to discuss climate change, sharing an article from PBS about the nature of tornadoes.
The story referred to them as “sliding into the Midwest and Southeast” rather than being solely focused on the Great Plains.
However, the congresswoman admitted that tornadoes can be difficult to connect to climate change because of their shifting conditions.
“Tornadoes are challenging to link to climate change links due to their nature (geographically, limited, acute patterns, how they form, etc.),” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Fox News.
“But we DO know that tornadoes HAVE been changing.
“They are no longer being limited to the Great Plains, and are shifting to other regions of the country.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been an advocate for the Green New Deal, a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which many Democrats and Republicans have deemed impossible to enact.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue called out the freshman lawmaker later on Twitter, mocking her for the phrase “casual tornadoes.”
“It’s just the weather in D.C.,” Maue wrote.
I thought this was fake but it’s from @AOC Instagram story.
No idea what she means with “casual tornadoes” and how this line of severe thunderstorms is proof of any “climate crisis”.
It’s just the weather in D.C. ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/r015cScVZg
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) May 23, 2019
The meteorologist also criticized Ocasio-Cortez in a reply, tweeting that she “does not know the difference between weather and climate.”
The Congresswoman @AOC does not know the difference between weather and climate.
Let’s try an easy analogy:
Weather is what outfit you wear heading out the door.
Climate is your closet wardrobe. pic.twitter.com/mmdLr6F2mD
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) May 24, 2019
“Let’s try an easy analogy: Weather is what outfit you wear heading out the door. Climate is your closet wardrobe,” the meteorologist tweeted.
A deadly tornado in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Wednesday preceded the tornado warning in D.C.
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