US Withdraws from Paris Agreement Aiming to Limit Climate Change
2020-11-05
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1The United States officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement to fight climate change on Wednesday.
2Leaders from around the world approved the agreement in 2015 at a conference in the French capital.
3For more than two years, American President Donald Trump talked about withdrawing from the treaty.
4Last year, the Trump administration announced the U.S. decision to withdraw.
5However, the results of the presidential election could decide for how long.
6Trump's main opponent in the vote, former Vice President Joe Biden, has promised to rejoin the climate agreement if he is elected.
7More than 180 countries remain committed to the 2015 Paris accord.
8The agreement aims to limit the increase in average temperatures worldwide to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
9Those increases are compared to temperature levels before Europe's Industrial Revolution.
10Scientists say that any temperature increase greater than 2 degrees Celsius could have a disastrous effect on large parts of the world.
11Such an increase, they say, could raise sea levels, fuel powerful storms and worsen droughts and floods.
12The Paris accord requires countries to set their own targets for cutting production of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to rising temperatures.
13The only legal requirement is that national governments must truthfully report on their efforts.
14The United States is the world's second biggest producer of heat-trapping gases, after China.
15In recent weeks, China, Japan and South Korea have joined the European Union (EU) and other countries in setting national targets to stop pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
16Biden, the Democratic Party's candidate for president, has said he supports calls for the United States to return to the Paris accord.
17On Wednesday, Germany's government said it was "highly regrettable" that the United States had left the accord.
18"It's all the more important that Europe, the EU and Germany lead by example," government spokesman Paul Seibert said.
19While the Trump administration has rejected federal measures to cut greenhouse gases, Seibert noted that U.S. states, cities and businesses have pushed ahead with their own efforts.
20I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The United States officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement to fight climate change on Wednesday. Leaders from around the world approved the agreement in 2015 at a conference in the French capital. 2For more than two years, American President Donald Trump talked about withdrawing from the treaty. Last year, the Trump administration announced the U.S. decision to withdraw. However, the results of the presidential election could decide for how long. Trump's main opponent in the vote, former Vice President Joe Biden, has promised to rejoin the climate agreement if he is elected. 3More than 180 countries remain committed to the 2015 Paris accord. The agreement aims to limit the increase in average temperatures worldwide to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Those increases are compared to temperature levels before Europe's Industrial Revolution. 4Scientists say that any temperature increase greater than 2 degrees Celsius could have a disastrous effect on large parts of the world. Such an increase, they say, could raise sea levels, fuel powerful storms and worsen droughts and floods. 5The Paris accord requires countries to set their own targets for cutting production of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to rising temperatures. The only legal requirement is that national governments must truthfully report on their efforts. 6The United States is the world's second biggest producer of heat-trapping gases, after China. In recent weeks, China, Japan and South Korea have joined the European Union (EU) and other countries in setting national targets to stop pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 7Biden, the Democratic Party's candidate for president, has said he supports calls for the United States to return to the Paris accord. 8On Wednesday, Germany's government said it was "highly regrettable" that the United States had left the accord. "It's all the more important that Europe, the EU and Germany lead by example," government spokesman Paul Seibert said. 9While the Trump administration has rejected federal measures to cut greenhouse gases, Seibert noted that U.S. states, cities and businesses have pushed ahead with their own efforts. 10I'm Ashley Thompson. 11The Reuters news agency and The Associated Press reported this story. George Grow adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 12________________________________________________________________ 13Words in This Story 14commit - v. to agree to 15ideally - adv. used to say what should happen or be done to produce the best results 16greenhouse gas - n. pollutants shown to cause rising temperature in Earth's atmosphere 17drought - n. a long period of little or no rainfall, leading to water shortages 18We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.