Politics: Trump has reportedly decided to withdraw from the Paris climate deal

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has repeatedly called for the US to exit the agreement.

President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to take the US out of the Paris climate accord, Jonathan Swan reports at Axios, citing two sources.

Politico and CNN are also reporting Trump's intention to pull out of the agreement, citing White House officials.

Whether Trump would stay in the deal — a cornerstone of Barack Obama's environmental policy — has been a looming question of his presidency so far. Recently, on his trip abroad, the president was pressured by European allies to stay a part of the accord.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who repeatedly called for the US to exit the agreement, will be part of a small team figuring out the details of the withdrawal, according to Axios.

Trump has previously called climate change a "hoax" and said while campaigning that he would "cancel" the Paris deal if elected.

The Paris deal was a landmark moment in the environmental movement. It marked the first time that 195 countries came together and agreed to limit carbon emissions in order to keep the planet from warming another 2 degrees Celsius.

Climate experts warn any global temperature spike above 2 degrees Celsius could bring terrible consequences, from unavoidable sea level rise to unpredictable shifts in weather and drought. These impacts could devastate agriculture and affect life on the coasts, where the vast majority of people live.

Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil for energy has brought the planet's current emission rate up to 1 degree Celsius. Some scientists already think the world has emitted too much carbon to keep the world below the 2 degree goal, but advise that the sooner countries act, the better humanity will fare in the long run.

The Paris agreement was the plan to reverse the gloom and doom trajectory that scientists warned the planet was on, by laying out a framework for countries to adopt clean energy and phase out fossil fuels. Each country submitted its own climate action plan laying out how it would achieve these goals.

It wasn't legally binding to the US, because Congress never formally agreed to adopt the treaty. But the Obama administration was using its power to enact as many carbon-cutting measures as possible in order to position the US as a leader in fighting climate change.

The United States is the world's second largest carbon emitter, after China. This was the first climate accord that both superpowers agreed to, which legal experts heralded as the best sign of its success word wide.

If Trump follows through with his campaign promises and "cancels" the US's commitment to the accord, it could lead to a tailspin of other countries exiting.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has repeatedly called for the US to exit the agreement. Read Full Story