UN warns insufficient global action keeps climate risk high

The United Nations is sounding the alarm, warning that current global efforts to combat climate change are falling short. The driving force behind future warming, the UN says, remains our reliance on fossil fuels like gas, oil, and coal.

The report says that the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement counteracts much of the progress made in recent years. The latest climate plans reduce future warming by about 0.3 degrees Celsius.

However, the U.S. exit will add back a tenth of a degree. The planet is on track for 2.3 to 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.1 to 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming. Even rapid emission cuts may not prevent temperatures from reaching at least 1.7 degrees Celsius (3.1 degrees Fahrenheit) this century.

The Trump administration policies, which range from rolling back environmental regulations to hindering green energy projects, will add back a tenth of a degree of warming, Tuesday's U.N. Environment Programme's Emissions Gap report says.

The global average temperature increase is mainly caused by the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, when fuels like oil, gas, and coal are burned. So the plans that countries submit must detail how and how quickly they will cut emissions of these gases.

Even super-fast, deep cuts in emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas will still more than likely mean global temperatures rise at least 1.7 degrees Celsius (3.1 degrees Fahrenheit) this century, with efforts then to bring them back down, the report says.

Ten years ago, before the Paris Agreement, the world was on a path to be about 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer.