Will Paris Have a ‘Tiny’ Effect on Warming?
President Donald Trump and his top environmental official said the Paris Agreement would reduce the global average temperature by only 0.2 degrees Celsius. Former Vice President Al Gore said that’s “not true.” Who’s right?
Trump and Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, are correct that one report did estimate a 0.2 C reduction. But the report’s author said the Trump administration “cherry-picked” that figure.
Other studies have shown greater reductions. Estimates differ because researchers make different assumptions at the onset of their calculations, such as whether countries will make more ambitious pledges to reduce carbon emissions in the future.
The 0.2 C Figure
Trump made his claim about the agreement’s effect on global warming during a June 1 speech announcing that the U.S. would “withdraw” from the international deal.
The , which went into effect , primarily aims to keep warming “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue “efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.” The planet has warmed nearly 1 C already, .
