This Earth Day, climate action takes a big step forward!

April 22 is a big day for climate action! This Earth Day marks the historical event when more than 150 countries will come together to sign the first-ever legally binding global climate deal -- The Paris Climate Agreement.

Katie Hammer

April 22 is a big day for climate action! This Earth Day marks the historical event when more than 150 countries will come together to sign the first-ever legally binding global climate deal — The Paris Climate Agreement. [1]

Setting the plan to fight climate change on an international level into motion has never been more urgent. The dominoes have begun to fall as we witness the impact global warming is having across the country:

  • March 2016 was ranked the hottest March in recorded history
  • March is the 11th of the longest series of months shattering temperature records, making it the longest record in 137 years

  • Extreme weather is affecting millions of Americans across the country, currently flooding Houston with history making rains

  • And right now, 166 million Americans are at risk of dangerous levels of global warming fueled air pollution [2]

As the “largest one-day signing of any international agreement,” this historic agreement will put us on the path to tackling global warming, and protecting the health of future generations. Setting a goal to keep global temperatures from rising two degrees celsius from pre-industrialization levels.

What’s more exciting is that, according to Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate, the Paris Climate Agreement is taking effect two years ahead of schedule. This means deeper carbon cuts will be possible and will commit next president into the agreement, regardless of his/her current stance on climate change. [3]

Join us in thanking President Obama for fighting to protect public health by making cutting carbon pollution a priority. By taking strong action on climate and finalizing the international climate deal, we are on the road to a healthier future. Thank President Obama today!

 

Sources:

  1. Paris Climate Deal Seen Taking Effect Two Years Ahead Of Plan, Bloomberg, April 11, 2016. 

  2. More than half of US population lives amid dangerous air pollution, report warns, The Guardian, April 20, 2016.

  3. US and China lead push to bring Paris Climate Deal into force early, The Guardian, April 1, 2016.

Authors

Katie Hammer