On MSNBC Monday afternoon, NBC News technology correspondent Jacob Ward was so concerned about a new United Nations climate change report that he compared the issue to an alien invasion and feared that humanity was failing to confront an “existential threat.” Even liberal anchor Stephanie Ruhle thought he was going too far.

“One million, that is how many species are under fire, under the threat of extinction thanks to humans, a new terrifying United Nations report has found,” Ruhle warned late in 1:00 p.m. ET hour as the segment began. After detailing some of the report’s findings, Ruhle scolded: “Do you know why? Human actions. Human actions like urbanization, pollution, poaching, and climate change.”

Turning to Ward, she fretted: “...when you read that headline, it sounds devastating.” Ward sorrowfully agreed: “Yeah, you know, it really is devastating, Stephanie. I mean, this is how dark the times are in the view of researchers....people are sort of getting ready for the horrors that this report is talking about. So it is dark times, I gotta say.”

Ruhle hoped for a “turnaround,” but complained that “there’s not even a consensus around climate change.” At that point, Ward ranted:

I know, I know. I mean, that’s the thing, right? You look at it and you think this should be our great unifying moment, right? This is the moment when space aliens land with ray guns and are threatening all of us and we all band together like you see in the movies. This is it. And yet, that’s not somehow happening.

Ruhle was actually forced to rein him in following that absurd statement: “But it’s not. Hold on a second. But it’s not. For your average American at home, there are not space aliens coming out and saying, ‘We’re going to take you over.’ This is an intangible. So how do we help them understand? Because it’s not fair to put it that way.”

Ward admitted how hyperbolic his comments were, but still attempted to justify them: “I feel that it’s the kind of thing where we should be able to band together, we should be able to access something really basic in our programming that just says, ‘Existential threat, humanity, band together,’ and we’re not doing that for some reason.”

Ward has a history of over-the-top environmentalist rhetoric. Shortly after joining NBC in December, he appeared on MSNBC with Ruhle and her co-host Ali Velshi to declare that deadly natural disasters were actually “good news” for pushing the climate change agenda.

Here is a full transcript of the May 6 segment: