Washington's governor on climate: 'The Earth is screaming at us'

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday that this summer's record-setting heat is proof that climate change is harming the planet.

"The Earth is screaming at us," the Democrat said on ABC's "This Week," adding that the impact of climate change is being felt two decades earlier than scientists had expected.

June and July have seen scorching heat waves in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, with July 6t h having been identified as the hottest day in the world's history.

"The fuse has been burning for decades and now the climate change bomb has gone off," Inslee said Sunday.

Despite the scorching heat and intense storms in so many places, Washington's governor said the problem is a solvable one.

"We need to stop using fossil fuels," he said, adding: "We do have the ability to restrain fossil fuels."

Inslee said that individual states can be the leaders on the U.S. response to climate change, which needs to be "further and faster" than it has been. "States can act," he said and added that his state has been a leader on the issue.

When asked by host Martha Raddatz how to respond to those like former President Donald Trump who don't see a problem, Inslee called Trump a "knucklehead" and said the world can't wait for climate deniers to realize there is a crisis.

"Let them go off and play golf," Inslee said.