Mike Pence Isn't Sure Why So Many People Think Climate Change Is A 'Paramount Issue'

Hayley Miller

Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he doesn’t understand why so many people are making such a big deal out of climate change, a phenomenon connected to such global issues as declining food security and wildlife populations.

Pence mocked “the liberal left” for condemning President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the historic Paris Agreement, an international pact that aims to curb global warming by reducing carbon emissions.

“For some reason or another, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left in this country and around the world,” Pence said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

At least 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activity has significantly contributed to the climate-warming trends of the past century, which threaten biodiversity and coastal communities and have contributed to an increase in extreme weather events.

Environmental activists, major corporations and world leaders were outraged when Trump announced on Thursday that the U.S. would withdraw from the historic accord.

“The U.S. decision to leave the #ParisAgreement is a decision to leave humanity’s last chance of securing our childrens future on this planet,” tweeted Margot Wallström, Sweden’s minister of foreign affairs.

But Pence dismissed any “apocalyptic predictions” surrounding Trump’s decision, noting that the U.S. has already “demonstrated real progress” in reducing carbon emissions.

“It’s long been a goal of the liberal left in this country to advance a climate change agenda,” Pence said.

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Also on HuffPost

Our carbon footprint says it all.

This graph shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as measured at&nbsp;Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, from 1958 to today. In September, scientists at Mauna Loa announced that C02 levels had <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/carbon-dioxide-400ppm-permanent_us_57eb7636e4b082aad9b7e9ab">likely&nbsp;surpassed the threshold of 400 parts per million permanently</a>.

Year over year, the trend becomes more obvious.

This graphic by climate scientist Ed Hawkins shows 167 maps of temperature change from 1850 to 2016.
This graphic by climate scientist Ed Hawkins shows 167 maps of temperature change from 1850 to 2016.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.