Pope Francis uses first ever US TV interview to slam climate change deniers as 'fools' and insists 'climate change exists'

Pope Francis spoke out against climate change deniers, calling them 'fools' in his first ever interview on American television.

The often 'progressive' pontiff spoke with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell at the Vatican this week to give his thoughts on violence in Ukraine and Gaza and other important subjects.

However, he made a pointed effort to express his displeasure with those who deny climate change when asked what he says to those who deny it by O'Donnell.

'There are people who are foolish, and even foolish if they show you them research. they don't believe it,' he said through an interpreter. 

'They don't understand the situation or because of their interest, but climate change exists,' he added.

Pope Francis spoke out against climate change deniers, calling them 'fools' in his first ever interview on American television

The pontiff spoke with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell at the Vatican this week to give his thoughts on violence in Ukraine and Gaza and other important subjects

Climate change is 'off the charts' and presents a 'defining challenge' to humanity, a damning new report warned in March.   

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says several climate records were broken and in some cases 'smashed' last year.

Greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, sea level rises, and Antarctic ice loss all escalating in 2023 due to fossil fuel emissions. 

'Sirens are blaring across all major indicators,' said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. 

'Some records aren't just chart-topping, they're chart-busting – and changes are speeding-up.' 

The year 2023 broke 'every single climate indicator' record.

Pope Francis also said that he speaks nightly to a parish in Gaza to discuss the ongoing violence.

He said that food is brought into the region but that 'they have to fight for it.'

'They don't understand the situation or because of their interest, but climate change exists,' he said of climate deniers

In an area near Wahweap Marina that was previously underwater at Lake Powell the earth is dry and cracked on April 5, 2022 in Page, Arizona

A dead fish carcass sits on dry earth near the Lake Mead Marina during low water levels due to the western drought in Nevada in 2021

When asked what can be done for a million Gazan children facing starvation, he added that they and children in Ukraine must be helped. 

'Those kids don't know how to smile. This is very hard when a child forgets to smile,' he said.

His overall message was: 'Please, countries at war, all of them, stop the war. Look to negotiate peace.' 

Researchers warn that extreme weather events including floods, tropical cyclones, drought, and wildfires, are linked with the warming of the planet and so will likely keep occurring. 

These will hit 'vulnerable populations' in countries without the ability to respond adequately already hit by food insecurity, such as Somalia, Sudan and Syria. 

'Climate change can intensify existing inequalities and social and economic pressures, placing further pressure on the people and places who are already under stress and who have often done the least to cause climate change in the first place,' said Dr Leslie Mabon, lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University. 

Professor Tina van de Flierdt, head of the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, called the new report 'alarming'. 

'Generally, the data in the report reinforces that climate change is not a distant threat – it is here now, and it is already impacting lives worldwide,' she said. 

'However, it is important to note that we are not yet locked into this trajectory. 

'The future is in our hands, and ongoing climate projects and greater use of clean energy sources offer hope for a just and resilient future.'