Sometimes you need comedians to tell the truth. On his new show, Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver took on the poor state of media reporting on climate science. For a long time scientists have pointed out that an obsession with “balance” in U.S. news reporting has injured people’s understanding of climate science. In many cases, news networks have a debate over climate change with a denier on one side and someone who accepts the science on the other side, but such “debates” make it appear as though climate science is unsettled, which it’s not, according to, well, scientists.
“You don’t need people’s opinions on a fact,” says Oliver in the segment. “You might as well have a poll asking which number is bigger 15 or five? Or do owls exist? Or are there hats? The debate on climate change should not be whether or not it exists, it’s what we should do about it.”
The clip from John Oliver’s show has gone viral, having been viewed over a million times on YouTube since Sunday.
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