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Tens of thousands brave 91-degree heat to protest climate change in D.C.

Since taking office 100 days ago, President Donald Trump has rolled back regulations on offshore drilling, taken steps to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, threatened to pull out of the Paris Agreement, appointed a climate change denier to the head of the EPA, and ripped up coal regulations.

On the 100th day of his presidency, tens of thousands of protesters alarmed by the government’s stance toward the environment gathered in Washington to participate in the People’s Climate March. It was fittingly hot in D.C. The 91-degree heat tied the April 29 record in Washington, amplifying the message of the march.

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The principal organizers of the march, the People’s Climate Movement, held its first march in 2014 in New York City, at the height of the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline. That march was aimed at pushing leaders internationally toward more effective climate policies, prior to the signing of the Paris Agreement.

Saturday’s march had been in the works for months, since well before Trump was elected president. The organizers expected to be pushing Hillary Clinton (who tweeted her support for the march) toward effective climate policy; instead, the focus was on preventing rollbacks of already insufficient decarbonization policies.

Estimates suggest that 200,000 people marched in D.C., exceeding the 100,000 organizers had expected. More than 300 smaller protests took place around the country and the world, including large crowds in Amsterdam, Lisbon, and London.

In D.C., protesters marched from the national mall down Pennsylvania Avenue, chanting “The oceans are rising, and so are we” and “Resistance is here to stay. Welcome to your 100th day.”

That afternoon, Trump flew to the heart of coal country, skipping the White House Correspondents Dinner in favor of a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.