By Brian Lada, Meteorologist
December 12,2015; 9:44PM,EST
The first global pact to fight climate change was adopted on Saturday by world leaders at the Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Nearly 200 nations adopted this historic pact with an emphasis on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to put a cap on the rising global temperatures.
"In short, this agreement will mean less of the carbon pollution that threatens our planet and more of the jobs and economic growth driven by low-carbon investments," Obama said.
Obama added to this, saying that the nations "met the moment" by agreeing to this pact.
French Foreign Minister and president of the COP21 Laurent Fabius uses a hammer to mark the adoption of the agreement, while United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres looks on during the final conference at the COP21, the United Nations conference on climate change, in Le Bourget, north of Paris, Saturday, Dec.12, 2015. Governments have adopted a global agreement, that for the first time, asks all countries to reduce or rein in their greenhouse gas emissions. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
The long-term goal of the Paris climate agreement is to make sure that global temperatures do not rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Since the start of the industrial age, global temperatures have already increased by about 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
In order to achieve this goal, the nearly 200 nations plan on reducing the amount of greenhouse gases they emitted into the Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists believe that the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere since the start of the industrial age has contributed to the increase in the average global temperature.
Burning coal, oil and gas are some of the most widely practiced methods for producing energy around the world, but they emit an abundance of greenhouse gases in the process.
To meet the goal that was set in the Paris climate agreement, different and more efficient methods of producing energy will likely need to be adopted around the globe.
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Recent months have gone down in history as some of the warmest months on record around the world, according to NOAA.
"Natural factors such as the strong El Nino and the positive PDO have no doubt influenced global temperatures this year as they normally do, but they cannot explain all of the warming," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
"Clearly, the global increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration is playing a role and will continue to do so (if not more so) for the foreseeable future," he added.
An activist hold a poster during a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, Saturday, Dec.12, 2015 during the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As organizers of the Paris climate talks presented what they hope is a final draft of the accord, protesters from environmental and human rights groups gather to call attention to populations threatened by rising seas and increasing droughts and floods. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Although the pact has been adopted at the conference, it still needs to be ratified by the individual governments before taking effect.
For this to happen, at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global admissions need to ratify the pact.
Even though it will take time for enough countries to ratify the pact for it to go into effect, Saturday was a landmark in the fight against climate change.
"History will remember this day," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday. "The Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people."
William Smith ·
Yes,the
wizards of smart who think that they are so powerful that they can
actually control the weather have reached an agreement to put the kibosh
on our freedoms. Gee,it can't be because these dictators who run the UN
for example,want more control over their countries' economies and line
the pockets of their green energy crony-capitalist corporate buddies
that they reached this "historic agreement"?
PT Rothschild ·
Putting this at the bottom of the bird cage and mailing off my letter to Santa.
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