This article originally appeared in the Huffington Post and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Bill Nye is weighing in on Deflategate again, but this time he has a few props and a message to share about something far more important.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick claimed atmospheric conditions and temperature changes could have caused footballs to lose air pressure during the team’s AFC Championship win over the Indianapolis Colts.
On Sunday, Nye said taking that much air out of a ball would require an inflation needle. But in a new video posted on Funny or Die, The Science Guy declared that “one test is worth 1,000 expert opinions,” and put some footballs into a fridge set to 51 degrees, or the temperature at the Jan. 18 game.
That’s where the video takes a very different turn.
“While we’re all obsessed with Deflategate, let’s keep in mind that there’s something about which you should give a fuck,” Nye said. “Yes, like Tom Brady, the world is getting hotter and hotter, and you know why? Because we humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
Nye then began listing things that contribute to climate change—including long-winded Deflategate press conferences—and followed that up with a rallying cry.
“You should vote for congressmen and senators that appreciate the threat of climate change and the rate at which the world is getting warmer, so that we can preserve the earth for humankind for generations to come,” Nye said.
Oh, and about those balls…
Nye took one out of the fridge, gave it a squeeze, pronounced it “pretty much the same,” and said “the Patriots probably bent the rules a little bit.”
Nye, who lived in Seattle for a number of years, ended the video with a message that’s bound to rankle the New England faithful: “Go Seahawks!”
