'The Planet's On Fucking Fire,' Explains Bill Nye

Because daily earnest warnings about the imminent extinction of the planet seem to be doing precious little to scare us into action on climate change, maybe a few words from Bill Nye will do the job? Maybe some VISUAL AIDS will help us understand that Earth as we know it will collapse without urgent, structural changes to the way in which we exist?

John Oliver went deep on the Green New Deal on Last Week Tonight, but because plenty has already been said on this topic, to little effect, Oliver brought in Nye. Maybe he can get us to pay attention! It worked in the ‘90s!

“We’re going to need a lot of different policies working tandem, and we have to take action right now,” Oliver said. “But you don’t have to just take that from me. Instead, I’m happy to say Bill Nye has actually agreed to drive the urgency home at this point by actually doing one of his enjoyable, lighthearted demonstrations.” And he did:

“By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another four to eight degrees. What I’m saying is the planet’s on fucking fire,” he says before sending a globe up in flames.

“There are a lot of things we could do to put it out. Are any of them free? No, of course not, nothing’s free you idiots. Grow the fuck up,” he says, rightly. “You’re not children anymore. I didn’t mind explaining photosynthesis to you when you were 12. But you’re adults now, and this is an actual crisis, got it?”

On a totally separate note, did you know Bill Nye the Science Guy was only a show for only five years?