Get serious about climate change

I support Eugene Robinson’s argument in his Oct. 11 column “Climate report reveals planetary horror story” that the U.S. should be concerned and take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions.

Average citizens like me hear about climate change but fail to realize just how big of an issue it is and how dire its effects are.

If 195 nations have already signed the Paris agreement to reduce their systematic emissions beginning in 2020, what is America doing withdrawing from the pact?

If the global temperature is raised again by 1 percent, about 14 percent of the world’s population would be vulnerable to severe and deadly heat waves every five years.

This is very concerning for citizens like me who live in Nevada. If our president thinks climate change is a “hoax” and continuously tries to increase our use of coal, it is up to the citizens of the United States to speak up and protest.

With the U.S. being the world’s greatest economic power and the second-largest carbon emitter behind China, we have the power to be an example for the rest of the world.