- In an attempt to undermine climate science, Republican Senator Ron Johnson falsely claimed that Greenland was named for its once green landscapes.
- Johnson admitted to The New York Times last week that he “had no idea” how Greenland got its name.
- Johnson rejected the science that proves that climate change is caused mainly by human activity.
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In an attempt to undermine climate science, Senator Ron Johnson falsely claimed in 2010 that Greenland – an island largely covered in ice – was named for its once green landscapes.
Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, admitted to The New York Times last week that he “had no idea” how Greenland got its name.
“You know, there’s a reason why Greenland was called Greenland,” Johnson told the Madison WKOW-TV news channel in 2010. “It was actually green at one point in time. And it’s been, you know, ever since it’s a lot whiter now so we’re experiencing climate change over geological time. “
In reality, Erik Thorvaldsson, a Viking settler also known as Erik the Red, gave Greenland a misleading name in the hope of attracting Europeans to the island. Danish territory has been covered with ice and glaciers for at least 2.5 million years.
“I may be wrong there, but I always assumed that, at some point, those early explorers saw the green,” Johnson told The Times last week. “I have no idea.”
Some who deny the scientific consensus on climate change spread the myth that the ice ages and the periods of heat between them prove that the global warming that the Earth is currently experiencing is natural. Johnson has repeatedly rejected science that proves that climate change is caused by most human activities. He falsely claims that global warming is caused by sunspots and that there is nothing that humans can do to reverse the phenomenon.
“If you take a look at geological time, we have had major climate changes,” Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a 2010 interview. “I absolutely do not believe that the science of man-made climate change is proven, not by any effort at all. imagination. I think it’s much more likely to be just the activity of sunspots or something just in the geological eras of time when we have changes in the climate. “
He continued: “The Middle Ages were also an extremely hot period and it was not like there were tons of cars on the road.”
Johnson also said that trying to reverse climate change is a “foolish task” that would destroy the economy.
“I don’t think we can do anything to control the climate,” he said.