On his first day as president of the United States, Donald Trump formally announced his country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement - a landmark global treaty that seeks to limit climate change.

Before signing the order, Trump announced his reasons to an arena of cheering supporters, describing the global agreement as an "unfair, unilateral rip-off of the Paris climate agreement."

Of course, this is not the first time Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement – he did so in 2017, during his first term.

On the one hand, Trump's move is a huge blow to efforts at global climate action. The US is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, and the country is key to global efforts to limit climate change.

But given Trump’s climate denialism, it’s actually better for the US to stay out of international climate talks while he’s in power. That way, the rest of the world can continue to function without Trump’s corrosive influence. (by Rebekkah Markey-Towler, The Conversation, more at phys.org)