This is a transcript of a monologue from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The host, Stephen Colbert, discusses various topics including Earth Day, climate change, and a recent viral tweet about a news anchor named Mark Johnson.
Colbert starts by wishing the audience a happy Earth Day and sharing some earth facts, including that over 70% of the Earth's surface is water and that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but an oblate spheroid. He also talks about climate change, citing the devastating impact of rising greenhouse gas emissions and the need for action.
Colbert then shifts to a recent virtual climate summit held by President Joe Biden, where he announced plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade. Colbert also mentions a recent testimony by Greta Thunberg before the House Oversight Committee, where she emphasized the need for urgent action on climate change.
The monologue also touches on a recent controversy surrounding a tweet by a news station in Boise, Idaho, which simply read "Mark Johnson" and went viral, with many people speculating about the meaning behind it. Mark Johnson, the news anchor, later explained that the tweet was a result of his updated bio being posted online without context.
Throughout the monologue, Colbert uses humor to highlight the importance of addressing climate change and the need for action from world leaders.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Over 70% of the Earth's surface is water.
2. The theme of Earth Day this year is "Restore Our Earth."
3. The Earth is an oblate spheroid, not a perfect sphere.
4. The Earth's north and south magnetic poles have flipped at random intervals over the last four billion years.
5. The United States has set a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of this decade.
6. The Paris Agreement is an international agreement aimed at mitigating climate change.
7. The Green New Deal is a proposed package of legislation aimed at addressing climate change and promoting sustainable infrastructure.
8. The US Postal Service has a covert operations program called ICOP that monitors American social media posts.
9. NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully converted carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars.
10. The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) is a toaster-sized instrument that produced 5.4 grams of oxygen on Mars.
11. The oxygen produced by MOXIE is enough to sustain an astronaut for about 10 minutes.
12. Mark Johnson, a news anchor from Boise, Idaho, became an internet sensation after his TV station tweeted his name without context.