From No Trick Zone

By P Gosselin

CO2 is thinning the atmosphere, causing solar warming, CDU politician Manuel Hagel explained to schoolchildren.

He got an “F”

The southern state of Baden Württemburg is holding state elections this coming Sunday, March 8, and CDU candidate Manuel Hagel (37) recently made an ARD televised campaign stop at a school.

The stop could not have gone worse for Hagel, having since become the target of significant public ridicule and criticism.

The gaffe: Hagel attempted to explain the greenhouse effect to a class of elementary school children – on national television – but wound up showing the audience that he fundamentally didn’t have the first clue about the subject.

While standing at a monitor, Hagel explained to the onlooking students that the greenhouse effect worked as follows:

Between the earth and the sun is the atmsphere. And as this gets increasingly thin, the sun gets hotter and hotter. And the reason for this is CO2 emissions and and and. And that is the greenhouse effect.”

Confused candidate

Scientific critics and social media users quickly pointed out that the greenhouse effect is actually caused by gases like water vapor, CO2 and methane trapping heat within the atmosphere, and not by the atmosphere getting thinner and the sun getting hotter.

Even the teacher seemed stunned after Hagel’s expalantion, shaking her head and sarcastically saying: “Wunderbar. Bin beeindruckt.” (Wonderful, I’m impressed.)

It’s not certain if Hagel confused the greenhouse effect with the ozone-hole and other scientific phenomena. One thing is sure: he ‘s very confused about the subject.

The incident particularly gained traction because candidate Hagel was positioned as an authority figure educating children, and the fact that he taught them incorrect information and didn’t know what he was talking about is particularly embarrassing. He’s the person who should lead one of Germany’s largest states, home to Mercedes Benz?