“I am not denying climate change“, just that”It cannot be there because it depends on the sun, on astronomy, on the gravitational effects of the other planets, and on the constituents of the atmosphere, which may be natural or man-made“and therefore claim that the climate crisis is mainly caused by humans”it has no scientific basis“. And also, “those of the last generation are being manipulated” The “You have to learn“. These are the words of Franco Prodi, an atmospheric physicist and expert on cloud formation whom the defense minister of the Meloni government, Guido Crosetto, he announced on his Twitter profile. I also reposted a tweet praising Prodi for “humiliated the popularizer Albertini and the latest generation environmentalist“.

The video clip comes from L’aria che tira, a program on La7 in which the Floods in Emilia-Romagna – which have claimed 14 lives so far – and their connection to the climate crisis. The heavy rains that followed a long period of drought (one of the symptoms of global warming) and the lack of long-term preventive measures in Italy have caused flooding of rivers and large areas of land.

During the debate, Prodi did not intervene to deny that climate change exists, as mentioned earlier, nor to say that flooding is not related to overheating. But he made one of the favorite arguments of global warming deniers: “There is no scientific basis“to say that The cause is human activity. Minister Crosetto decided to share these words that would have left him.humble yourself“The popularizer and physicist Valerio Rossi Albertini and the representative of the last generation invited by the show.

However, that’s just the point an untruth. A statement that has been denied dozens of times. Prodi, born in 1941 and brother of former Prime Minister Romano, has argued in the past that there is a “official science“which shows that climate change is not man’s fault, and that he is”overruled by the notification“, but also from scientific journals “less and less qualified” and from events like the international climate conference COP. However, it has been proven for years that almost all scientific research on this topic is carried out – 97%, according to an analysis of 2016 – agrees that global warming is caused by human activities.

In addition, the physicist also said that the earth is warming “it depends on the sun“, among other things. A fallacious statement so widely used by climate deniers it can even be found on NASA’s climate change page a FAQ to deny itas also highlighted by Carlo Canepa, Editor-in-Chief of the Political Scoreboard.

During his speech in L’aria che tira, Prodi listed all the academic positions he held (“I am the only authorized expert“) and said he wouldn’t talk to anyone who didn’t have the same thing.credentials“. Among other things, the physicist also boasted that “Director of the CNR Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Sciences“, the National Research Council, “for twenty years”. However, this direction ended in 2008, and ISAC later commented with one short note: “Professor Franco Prodi is not a research associate at the institute, so the opinions published in various newspapers are published as a private person they in no way reflect the opinion of the Institute itself“.

Here is the video: