President Donald Trump says he believes the earth will cool again, denying his own administration's findings.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

At a Glance

The president says he believes the Earth will cool again, a claim disputed by the vast majority of scientists. Trump did not deny climate change as he has done in the past, but disputed the findings of the National Climate Assessment.He says he didn't read the report

President Donald Trump said he doesn't believe humans are responsible forclimate change despitehis own administration's andscientific consensusthat shows humans aredriving climate change.

In an interview on last week, Trump was shown a copy of the congressionallymandated assessment. He waved it off, saying he had not read it.

The president did not dismissclimate change as a as he has said in the past. Instead, he said"we certainly contribute. There's certain pollutants that go up and there's certain things that happen, certain things we do that if we weren't here certainly would be different."

He did, however, disputethe findings of the assessment, saying he believes the Earth will cool off, suggesting climate change was cyclical.

"Is there climate change? Yeah. Will it go back like this?" Trump said, as he gestured with up and down movements of his right hand. "I mean, will it change back? Probably, that's what I think. I believe ... man and women, we do have an impact, but I don't believe the impact is nearly what some say, and other scientists that dispute those findings very strongly."

The National Climate Assessment is considered one of the most comprehensive and thorough examinations of climate change. A team of 300 experts guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee produces the assessment, which is then reviewed by nearly all federal agencies, including the National Academy of Sciences, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The most recent assessment concludes that "there is no convincing alternative explanation" for the global warming we've observed, other than human causes. It also notes that only "steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can alter the upward trajectory of air and ocean temperatures and their related impacts."

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It's unclear what studies the president is referring to in the Axios interview, considering the vast majority of scientists do not dispute that climate change is occurringand ishuman-caused. In fact, very few peer-reviewed scientific reports, in the U.S. or abroad, dispute the consensus that human activities are responsible for global warming.

"Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities,". "In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position."

In October, a major study from the (IPCC) highlighted the devastating impacts expected from climate change if it continues on its current pace.The report concludedthatit is still possible to keep global temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial values and limit the devastating impacts of climate change, but it wouldrequire " 'rapid and far-reaching' transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transportand cities."

"Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics but doing so would require unprecedented changes," said Jim Skea, one of the IPPC co-chairs.

Trump and other senior officials appearto like the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank that tendsto downplay the findings of climate scientists, E&E News reports.

"I want everybody to report whatever they want, but ultimately, I'm the one that makes that final decision," Trump toldAxios."I can also give you reports where people very much dispute that, you know, you do have scientists that very much dispute it."