Washington D.C. [USA], Mar 17 (ANI): For US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, climate change doesn't figure amongst the top five threats to the United States - reflecting the rhetoric set out by US President Donald Trump, even as students across the world staged mass protests against inaction over climate change."Everyone's talking about global warming and the threat to this country. When you look at the top five threats to this nation, where do you rank global warming or climate change?" Fox News asked Pompeo, according to a The Washington Post journalist John Hudson."Yeah, I wouldn't put it in the top five," Pompeo responded.Listing China, Pakistan and North Korea at the top of his list, the Secretary of State added, "I can count to five that get you to things that present more risk to the people I used to represent in Kansas and citizens all across America, whether it's the threat that we've talked about today from China...Pakistan...North Korea...I think I'm at five already, but I could give you a whole list of threats that I think we can effect change on in a way that will really make a difference for the security of the American people."Fox News asks Pompeo where climate change ranks on his list of top threats to the United States. He says it doesn't break his top 5. His list is:1. China 2. Pakistan3. North Korea..."I think I'm at five already"... pic.twitter.com/npv7J48dqK— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) March 16, 2019This dismissal comes at a time when thousands of students across the world, inspired by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, skipped school to protests against inaction over climate change by the authorities on March 15.Thunberg has been protesting outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday since August 2018 against inaction over climate change, leading to the protests being known as "Fridays for Future".Several world leaders have backed the students, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel showing her outright support to the cause.US President Trump, on the other hand, has been dismissive of climate change on several occasions. In fact, the United States pulled out of the Paris Agreement, aimed at curbing climate change, as soon as he came into power following the 2016 Presidential elections - a move which has been widely slammed. (ANI).

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