Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt on Tuesday seemed to back off his earlier comments about climate change by acknowledging humans contribute “in some way” and suggested debating the issue.

“We know the climate’s always changing. We know that humans contribute to it in some way,” Pruitt said Tuesday on “Fox News.” “To what degree, to measure that with precision is very difficult, but what we don’t know is, are we in a situation where it’s an existential threat.”

The ​EPA chief​​ ​last week​ said ​it would be “insensitive” to discuss the effect​s​ of climate change after some experts said ​the warming waters of the Caribbean​ may have contributed to the devastating power of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma because recovery efforts were underway​.

​”Here’s the issue,” Pruitt said​​. “​​To have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm​,​ versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm, is misplaced.”​

​But on Tuesday as Hurricane Maria strengthened into a Category 5 storm and battered the Caribbean islands, ​Pruitt ​suggested it may now be time.

“Bring scientists in, red team scientists, blue team scientists, have a discussion about the importance of this issue,” he said. “The American people deserve that type of objective, transparent discussion.”

Pruitt’s boss, President Trump, last week also dismissed the impact of climate change on hurricanes, saying “we’ve had bigger storms,” despite the fact that Harvey and Irma marked the first time two Category 4 storms hit the US in the same year.

But a week before those remarks, Trump tweeted that Irma “is of epic proportions” and warned Florida residents to “get out of its way.”

Trump has said climate change is a “hoax” created by the Chinese to hinder American businesses.

Harvey broke the record for rainfall when it dumped more than 50 inches on parts of Texas and Louisiana.

Irma, one of the the Atlantic’s strongest storms of all time, had sustained winds of 185 mph at its peak and was a Category 5 storm for three days.