|
|
|
When Obama
took office |
As Trump
takes office |
|---|---|---|---|
| CO2 emissions | Monthly greenhouse gas emissions fell — from 530 million metric tons of CO2 in January 2009 to a projected 492 million metric tons in January 2017 — as surging natural gas production displaced coal and renewable energy production more than doubled. (Sources: 1, 2) | 530 million metric tons (Jan. 2009) | 496 million metric tons (Sept. 2016) |
| Global average temperature | 2016 was the warmest year on record (that is, since the start of record-keeping in 1880) according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While President Obama took a firm stance on combating climate change, it’s not clear what Trump will do; he has said he’s “open-minded” on climate change, but also that “nobody really knows” if it’s real (despite scientific consensus that it is). (Values shown are the number of degrees above the 20th-century global land and sea temperature average. | Sources: 1, 2) | +0.88°F (2008) | +1.69°F (2016) |