It is disappointing to learn that the administration of US President Donald Trump has informed the United Nations that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord. The withdrawal of the United States at such a time has disrupted the system of international coordination that is central to the agreement, and has thrown cold water on momentum to initiate climate change countermeasures.
The Paris Agreement, the successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, aims to keep rising global temperatures to "well below" 2 C higher than preindustrial levels, so as to limit the occurrence of droughts, floods, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and other results of global warming.
In the 2 1/2 years since Trump stated that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the global climate situation has become more serious. Global warming is threatening people's food, clothing and shelter. "Abnormal" weather has become routine, and food shortages and deterioration of people's living environments have forced people to migrate, producing so-called "climate refugees."
Trump should be aware of the danger
of his self-centered attitude resulting in serious
consequences for humanity
It isn't beyond imagination for the world to act in concert against a global environmental threat. After all, it has happened before. When scientists found that chemicals used in refrigeration and aerosol cans were depleting a protective layer of ozone over the Earth, risking widespread skin cancer and death, nations agreed under the 1988 Montreal Protocol to a solution.It is worth mentioning that the 1988 Montreal Protocol worked it helped the world to cut down the use of chemicals drastically.
However, global warming is a far greater and more complex threat and in order to control it he world must act in concert. At this time when the world is gripped by a shared sense of urgency, Trump's act of turning his back on a crisis of a global scale can only be described as foolish behavior. The pros and cons of his decision will no doubt be weighed in the U.S. presidential election next year, but Trump should be aware of the danger of his self-centered attitude resulting in serious consequences for humanity.
