WASHINGTON Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Thursday that carbon dioxide was not a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with the global scientific consensus on climate change…
Mr. Pruitts statement is not consistent with scientific research on climate change. A report in 2013 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a panel of about 2,000 international scientists that reviews and summarizes climate science, found it to be extremely likely that more than half the global warming that occurred from 1951 to 2010 was a consequence of human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
A January report by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded, The planets average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
Mr. Pruitts remarks come as the Trump administration prepares to roll back President Barack Obamas two signature global warming policies: a pair of sweeping regulations intended to curb carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles and power plant smokestacks.
Incredible. If these regulations are rolled back, I believe we are taking a step back as a global leader in lowering carbon dioxide emissions. I believe we also increase the probability of irreversible changes to both our local weather and climate and the global climate above and beyond the changes we see today.