Former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, says the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation is a threat to the ‘whole planet and the US itself’.
His criticism follows an ‘unprecedented’ wildfires raging across the western United States.
It has emerged that the wildfires which started on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, are currently scorching 12 western US states.
The BBC reported Saturday that the “worst affected are Oregon, California and Washington, where entire towns have been destroyed”.
Authorities say more than half a million people in the US state of Oregon are fleeing the deadly wildfires that are raging across the Pacific Northwest”, the report added.
Commenting on the incident on his Facebook page, Mr. John Mahama attributed the current fires and the recent dust from the Sahara Desert to climate change.
According to the former Ghana Head of State, the Caribbean, US and other Asian nations are also experiencing more hurricanes and typhoons “due to warming from the seas”.
He, however, believes that the US government is abdicating its leadership role in the fight against climate change.
“I’ve been watching CNN reports of fire raging across twelve Western US States. This has covered the whole western seaboard in smoke and haze. Also this year, dust from the Sahara Desert blew across the Atlantic and reached as far as the United States
“More hurricanes and typhoons are being born due to warming of the seas and these are pounding the Carribean and US, and on the other side of the world, Asian and SE Asian nations
“It is difficult to understand how the US Government does not see that its withdrawal from the Climate Change Agreement and subsequent repeal of regulations limiting emissions and other environmental controls threaten our whole planet and the US itself. And it abdicates its leadership role in the fight against climate change”, Mr. Mahama’s position blamed.
Source: Ghana Guardian