Obama defends climate talks as way to avoid 'changing planet'

President Obama on Tuesday defended his decision to go to Paris for climate talks just weeks after the Islamic State killed 130 Parisians, and said climate change needs to be tackled immediately because it affects everything else in the world.

Many Republicans have said the Paris talks should have been turned into a conference to deal with terrorism, which they say is a more immediate threat. Obama acknowledged that criticism Tuesday from Paris.

"I know some have asked why the world would dedicate some of our focus right now to combating climate change, even as we work to protect our people and go after terrorist networks," he said.

"The reason is because this one trend, climate change, affects all trends," he explained.

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