Rupert Murdoch buys National Geographic: Quotes from media mogul on climate change

National Geographic has been bought by Rupert Murdoch's 21<sup>st Century Fox as part of a joint venture. Fox will pay $725m (£471m) to the National Geographic Society for its stake in the expanded partnership.

The new partnership will be called National Geographic Partners and will combine TV channels with the magazine, books, maps and other assets. Fox will own 73% of the partnership, with National Geographic Society owning the remaining 27%.

You can read the full statement on the deal here.

National Geographic has operated as a non-profit publication for 127 years, having been published continuously since its first issue in 1888.

Following the announcement, many people expressed their dismay at the Murdoch empire's move, with many highlighting the owner's stance on climate change and calling the deal disappointing.

In 2007, Murdoch announced he was joining the fight against climate change, unveiling plans to be the "first global media company to achieve carbon neutral". He went so far as to say: "Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can't afford the risk of inaction. The climate will not wait for us."

Yet since then he appears to have backtracked on his position, making several statements about the warming (or not) planet. With that in mind, here are some of Rupert Murdoch's thoughts on climate change and global warming

"If the sea level rises 6 inches, that's a big deal ... we can't mitigate that, we can't stop it. We've just got to stop building vast houses on seashores and go back a little bit."

"Climate change has been going on as long as the planet is here ... Things are happening. How much of it are we doing, with emissions and so on? As far as Australia goes? Nothing in the overall picture. China perhaps."

"World growing greener with increased carbon. Thirty years of satellite evidence. Forests growing faster and thicker."

"Climate change has been going on as long as the planet is here, and there will always be a little bit of it. At the moment the north pole is melting, but the south pole is getting bigger."

"We should approach climate change with great scepticism. Climate change has been going on as long as the planet is here. There will always be a little bit of it. We can't stop it, we've just got to stop building vast houses on seashores. The world has been changing for thousands and thousands of years, it's just a lot more complicated today because we are more advanced."

"Back in US. What happened to global warming? London, D.C, New York seem like new ice age! Rockies too."

"In terms of the world's temperature going up, the worst, the most alarmist things have said ... 3°C in 100 years. At the very most one of those will come from man-made, be man-made."

"Just flying over N. Atlantic 300 miles of ice. Global warming!"