The US Senate approved an international climate treaty for the first time in 30 years.
This pact deals to phase out of the use of planet-warming industrial chemicals commonly found in refrigerators and air-conditioners.
The Kigali agreement is a 2016 amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a landmark treaty to protect Earth’s ozone layer.
Now, the United States joined the 2016 Kigali Amendment, along with 137 other nations that have agreed to sharply reduce the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs.
The chemicals are potent greenhouse gases, warming the planet with 1,000 times the heat-trapping strength of carbon dioxide.
If the Kigali pact is successfully implemented, scientists estimate it would prevent up to 0.5 degrees Celsius, or roughly 1 degree Fahrenheit, of warming by the end of this century.