Donald Trump has once again pulled the United States out of the crucial Paris climate agreement, thereby abandoning the global initiative aimed at mitigating climate change. Today, Trump signed an executive order to formally exit.
The Paris accord, which was established in 2015, committed nearly 200 countries, including the US, to collectively work towards preventing global average temperatures from rising significantly. 2024 has been recorded as the hottest year, surpassing the previous record set in 2023 according to climate experts.
Discontinuing efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the US can have lasting effects on both Americans and individuals globally. Historically, the US has been the largest emitter of carbon dioxide emissions linked to climate change, and it remains a leading oil and natural gas producer, thus wielding significant influence in international climate negotiations. Within the US, billion-dollar weather and climate disasters have become more frequent in recent years when adjusted for inflation.
Rachel Cleetus, policy director and lead economist for the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, expressed that exiting the Paris agreement “is a blatant disregard for scientific realities and demonstrates an administration that is callously indifferent to the severe impacts of climate change being felt by people in the US and worldwide.”
For the past 11,000 years, our planet’s climate has remained relatively stable, which has allowed for the development of agriculture and civilization until the industrial revolution disrupted this balance. The Paris agreement seeks to maintain global temperatures within a similar temperature range, preventing an increase of more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.
While this may seem like a minor temperature change, the effects of climate change have already intensified, leading to more frequent and severe weather-related disasters across the US, including wildfires that are still raging near Los Angeles and have devastated entire communities this month.
Trump had previously withdrawn the US from the Paris accord during his last term. Former President Joe Biden recommitted the US to the agreement upon taking office in 2021. Now, the US is set to join nations like Iran, Libya, and Yemen as the only countries that are not part of this international treaty. With the notification sent to the United Nations by the Trump administration, it will take one year for the withdrawal process to finalize.
