US, China To Ratify Paris Climate Deal

After a long wait, the United States and China finally made a move to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement. The two nations, considered as the two most prolific greenhouse gas emitters on the planet may disagree on many issues, and are often even in direct conflict with one another, but they have both come to realize that man-made climate change is a threat to all of the world's population.

US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping confirmed the ratification of the agreement at the beginning of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China. The Independent cited Obama saying that their decision was "the moment we finally decided to save our planet". Xi added, "Our response to climate change bears on the future of our people and the well-being of mankind."

To officially enact the Paris agreement, IFL Science noted that 55 countries representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions must ratify the deal. With the US and China onboard, the numbers now total 26 out of 195 and representing 39 percent of emissions. Climate campaigners now expect a "surge" or ratifications form other countries, particularly other major emitters such as Brazil and India.

Today, with carbon dioxide being the primary greenhouse gas emission, global climate has been altering in unprecedented ways, with the world warming at an average 10 times faster than expected after a glacial maximum. By the end of the century, if the world refuses to take action, the Arctic will have disintegrated, and crops will not be able to keep up with the pace of the warming - leaving animals with little food as forests dramatically shrinks as well.

The problem does not stop there: if the world cannot save its planet, the economy will suffer, refugee crisis will arise, sea levels become higher than ever to the point of drowning islands and cities, and potential natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes will become more potent. Still, this isn't enough: the Paris agreement may be off to a good start, but it needs to be strengthened over time to actually save the world.