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Jon Stewart Has A Blast With GOP Response To Pope's Climate Change Encyclical

Stewart: Forget Traditional Marriage, Let's Preserve Traditional Sea Levels
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Overnight Editor, HuffPost

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Many of the Republican presidential candidates who normally aren't shy about bringing religion into politics had a sudden change of heart when Pope Francis released his papal encyclical on climate change -- and the hypocrisy wasn't lost on Jon Stewart.

On Thursday night's "Daily Show," Stewart played clips of Republicans distancing themselves from the pope's encyclical, which said climate change is being caused mostly by man and we must do more to protect the planet.

In particular, he focused on the two Catholic presidential hopefuls.

Rick Santorum recently said the pope should "leave science to the scientists." And Jeb Bush noted, “I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or from my pope."

"I think religion ought to be about making us better as people and less about things that end up getting in the political realm," Bush added.

But just last week, Bush spoke about faith as the "moral foundation of our country," and how people of faith should be respected when they "want to take a stand for traditional marriage."

"Oh, so there it's OK," said Stewart. "Perhaps people would be more for preventing global warming if we refer to it as taking a stand for preserving traditional sea levels."

See his full takedown in the clip above.

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Before You Go

Climate Change: 10 Beautiful Places Under Threat
Alaska(01 of09)
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The impacts of climate warming in Alaska are already occurring, experts have warned. Over the past 50 years, temperatures across Alaska increased by an average of 3.4°F. Winter warming was even greater, rising by an average of 6.3°F jeopardising its famous glaciers and frozen tundra.
Venice(02 of09)
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The most fragile of Italian cities has been sinking for centuries. Long famous for being the city that is partially under water, sea level rise associated with global warming would have an enormous impact on Venice and the surrounding region. The Italian government has begun constructing steel gates at the entrances to the Venetian lagoon, designed to block tidal surges from flooding the city. However, these barriers may not be enough to cope with global warming.
Antarctica (03 of09)
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The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas on Earth, with only some areas of the Arctic Circle experiencing faster rising temperatures. Over the past 50 years, temperatures in parts of the continent have jumped between 5 and 6 degrees F— a rate five times faster than the global average.A 2008 report commissioned by WWF warned that if global temperatures rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial averages, sea ice in the Southern Ocean could shrink by 10 to 15 percent.
The Great Barrier Reef(04 of09)
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The rapid decline of the world's coral reefs appears to be accelerating, threatening to destroy huge swathes of marine life unless dramatic action is swiftly taken, leading ocean scientists have warned. About half of the world's coral reefs have already been destroyed over the past 30 years, as climate change warms the sea and rising carbon emissions make it more acidic.
The Himalayas(05 of09)
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The world's highest mountain range contains the planet's largest non-polar ice mass, with over 46,000 glaciers. The mammoth glaciers cross eight countries and are the source of drinking water, irrigation and hydroelectric power for roughly 1.5 billion people. And just like in Antarctica, the ice is melting.
The Maldives(06 of09)
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An expected 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures in the next decades will impact island economies such as the Maldives with extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels.
The Alps(07 of09)
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Over the last century, global warming has caused all Alpine glaciers to recede. Scientists predict that most of the glaciers in the Alps could be gone by 2050. Global warming will also bring about changes in rain and snowfall patterns and an increase in the frequency of extreme meteorological events, such as floods and avalanches, experts have warned.
The Arctic(08 of09)
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The Arctic is ground zero for climate change, warming at a rate of almost twice the global average. The sea ice that is a critical component of Arctic marine ecosystems is projected to disappear in the summer within a generation.
Micronesia and Polynesia(09 of09)
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Called the "epicenter of the current global extinction," by Conservation International, this smattering of more than 4,000 South Pacific islands is at risk from both local human activity and global climate change.
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