This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
U.S. Now the Only Country Not in Paris Climate Agreement After Syria Signs On
When President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement in June, the U.S. joined Syria and Nicaragua as the only other countries to not agree to the global action plan.
The reasons for the other two holdout countries were fair. Nicaragua's leaders felt the accord was not strong enough to fight climate change. Syria has been embroiled in a full-scale civil war for six years.
But Tuesday, during the COP 23 climate talks in Bonn, Germany, the Syrian government also decided to sign the Paris climate agreement. Nicaragua officially joined the accord late last month.
A Syrian delegate at the Bonn climate talks did not offer an explanation for the government's decision to ratify the pact, the New York Times reported. Syria, which produces only a small percentage of global emissions, has not yet submitted it targets for cutting greenhouse gases.
The U.S., under President Trump, is now completely alone in this global consensus to limit temperature rise to well below 2°C to avoid dangerous climate change.
Under the terms of the Paris agreement, the earliest the U.S. can officially exit the pact is the day after the 2020 election.
"The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States," Trump said about the Paris withdrawal.
The United States remains firm in its position, according to White House spokeswoman Kelly Love, who pointed reporters to a prior statement the administration issued after Nicaragua joined the pact, the Times reported.
"As the president previously stated, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms the are more favorable for our country," the statement said.
Trump's controversial decision was met with intense criticism around the world.
"As if it wasn't already crystal clear, every single other country in the world is moving forward together to tackle the climate crisis, while Donald Trump has isolated the United States on the world stage in an embarrassing and dangerous position," Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in response to Syria's move.
"Trump's desperate moves to help corporate polluters by refusing to acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis shows that he neither cares about leadership nor does he understand it. Thankfully, leaders in cities and states around the U.S. are taking action and committing to transitioning to 100 percent clean energy, proving that it's not America that's devoid of leadership, only the White House."
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The fight between the Standing Rock Sioux and the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline is back on, as the tribe opposes a pipeline expansion that it argues would increase the risk of an oil spill.
A middle-aged married couple in China was diagnosed with pneumonic plague, a highly infectious disease similar to bubonic plague, which ravaged Europe in the middle ages, as CNN reported.
Dairy aisles have exploded with milk and milk alternative options over the past few years, and choosing the healthiest milk isn't just about the fat content.
Whether you're looking beyond cow's milk for health reasons or dietary preferences or simply want to experiment with different options, you may wonder which type of milk is healthiest for you.
Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate activist whose weekly school strikes have spurred global demonstrations, has cut short her tour of the Americas and set sail for Europe to attend COP25 in Madrid next month, as The New York Times reported.
Trending
At least 1,688 dams across the U.S. are in such a hazardous condition that, if they fail, could force life-threatening floods on nearby homes, businesses, infrastructure or entire communities, according to an in-depth analysis of public records conducted by the the Associated Press.
By Sabrina Kessler
Far-reaching allegations about how a climate-sinning American multinational could shamelessly lie to the public about its wrongdoing mobilized a small group of New York students on a cold November morning. They stood in front of New York's Supreme Court last week to follow the unprecedented lawsuit against ExxonMobil.
Trending
By Alex Robinson
Leah Garcés used to hate poultry farmers.
The animal rights activist, who opposes factory farming, had an adversarial relationship with chicken farmers until around five years ago, when she sat down to listen to one. She met a poultry farmer called Craig Watts in rural North Carolina and learned that the problems stemming from factory farming extended beyond animal cruelty.
Temperatures plunged rapidly across the U.S. this week and around 70 percent of the population is expected to experience temperatures around freezing Wednesday.