Nye: Mosquitoes in November Consistent with Climate Change Models; It’s Very Troubling

RUSSERT: “Real quickly to you, Bill. A week ago, D.C. --in December, mosquito bit me. What does this mean for animals? The climate change we have here in terms of the seasons are getting — the mosquitoes can live longer, other animals die more quickly, what is happening here? Quickly”
NYE: “The big problem, this surprised me, but a couple scientific papers have been published about this. The biggest problem for agricultural -- I am talking about mosquitoes in November. The biggest problem for agriculture is not that the Mid West will turn into a desert, that it will dry out -- you can sort of get that impression from certain maps. But instead, the parasites and the pests have extended their seasons, both in the spring and the fall, the pests and parasites are around a lot longer than they used to be. This has tremendous economic effects on our agriculture and our food supplies, not just here in the United States but around the world especially. And if these tropical diseases end up to be extent here in the mid-latitudes, there's going to be a tremendous medical costs. The sooner we get to work on the climate change the better for everybody. It’s a win, win, win. Come on, let’s get going! My parents both were World War II veterans, they solved an international problem in whatever number you like, five or six years. We can do the same thing in a decade or two. We can do it if we got going. So yes, mosquitoes in November is consistent with climate change models and it's very troubling."
RUSSERT: “Well, we will see if 2016 is the year that everybody gets going. We have some optimism after the Paris talks I presume."
NYE: "Oh, yes."
RUSSERT: “Bill Nye, science guy. Thank you so much for joining us."