Anchorage: Barack Obama set in Alaska on Monday for a trip aimed at highlighting the pace of climate change. Rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, melting permafrost: the effects of climate change are stark in this vast but sparsely populated state.
Obama, who spoke at the closing of an international conference on the Arctic, wanted to shore up public support to tackle what he calls “one of the greatest challenges we face this century.”
His visit comes just months before a crucial conference in Paris, known as COP21, in December that will aim to cap global temperature increases by 2o Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
“What’s happening in Alaska is happening to us,” Obama said before leaving Washington. “It's our wakeup call. And as long as I’m president, America will lead the world to meet the threat of climate change before it's too late.” Obama has just imposed strict standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
