Hello and welcome back to our weekly climate newsletter.
Well, it's official ... again.
America has withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement for a second time.
Adopted in 2015, the landmark pact is at the heart of international efforts to tackle human-caused climate change: a threat U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called a "hoax."
It commits nations to pursue efforts to limit global temperature rises to a threshold of 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) - as well as to keep them "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above global temperatures recorded in pre-industrial times.
The agreement is aimed at limiting some of the harsher impacts of warming that will affect everyone on Earth, such as more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
In the years since, however, planet-warming emissions have largely continued to rise and the planet has seen some of its hottest years on record.
Now, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says temporarily exceeding 1.5 degrees is considered inevitable.
"The 1.5-degree-Celsius limit is a red line for humanity. It must be kept within reach," he urged in November.
The U.S. is the only country ever to have withdrawn from the pact. Otherwise, Iran, Libya and Yemen are the only countries not party to the agreement.
The Trump administration's move has drawn major criticism from climate groups and Trump critics in and out of the U.S.
"The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement sets a disturbing precedent that seeks to instigate a race to the bottom," Marta Schaaf, Amnesty International's Program Director for Climate, said in a statement, "and, along with its withdrawal from other major global climate pacts, aims to dismantle the global system of cooperation on climate action."
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-members-douse-a-home-in-Longwood-VIC-bdhf14ep.jpeg?quality=75&width=1368&auto=webp "An Australian flag flies as the Country Fire Authority crews douse a home in Longwood in Victoria")
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