The earth is heating at a rapid rate. In 2024, the temperatures increased by 2.30 degrees above the 20th century baseline. Not only was the year the warmest, the past fifteen months have set record breaking temperatures as well.

Temperatures have been contained with the Paris Climate Agreement – an agreement that keeps long-term global temperatures from warming 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times by slashing planet-warming emissions from coal, oil and gas – but President Trump withdrew America from this treaty on his second day in office (of his second term).

With Trump removing America from the Paris Climate Agreement, it means that the United States will not practice any methods, as a whole, to keep global temperatures from rising.

Not only will temperatures rise, but so will sea levels will rise. That may not seem like the most harmful impact, but it will affect many people and animals. An increase in sea level means more destruction towards ecosystems and displacement of costal communities.

Coral reefs will be the most affected because they cannot grow fast enough to keep up with the sea level and will not get enough sunlight. Not only do coral reefs provide homes for sea organisms, but they also provide protection on the coastline from erosion and storm surges.

Another issue of withdrawing from the agreement is an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Even though it is necessary to have carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, too much of it

is harmful. This greenhouse gas disrupts ecosystems as a whole, but one of its biggest issues is how carbon dioxide makes natural disasters more likely.

Take the Los Angelos wildfires as an example. As more carbon dioxide gets let into the atmosphere, and the planet gets warmer, these fires will become more regular. They will become harder to put out as well.

These fires have been actively burning since January seventh, and have yet to stop. The president himself blamed Los Angelos for what is happening there. “Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don’t listen to us,” he said.

These fires are not just one person’s fault, instead they are an effect of what humans have done to this planet. Without the Paris Agreement, there will be no way to stop America from producing as many greenhouse gases as they can.

It is not safe to leave this agreement. It once was predicted that climate change would be irreversible by 2042, that is no longer the case. Now, it is predicted that climate change will be irreversible as early as 2026, next year.

Currently one half of America is experiencing the coldest temperatures they ever have, while the other half of the country is burning. This is not normal.

The President of the United States is a climate change denier, calling it “mythical”, “nonexistent”, and “an expensive hoax.” While it may be expensive to fix, in no way is it mythical or nonexistent. There are literal records of an increase in global temperatures, and this increase will not stop until everyone puts in an effort to reduce it.

It may be hard, but it is not impossible. The Paris Climate Agreement is necessary in times like this, and without it climate change will be soon irreversible.