Democratic lawmakers have rebuked US President Donald Trump after he tweeted that northeastern American states could use some "global warming" to help recover from cold temperatures, with one congresswoman saying Trump is “tweeting like a child who hates science class.”

“In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record,” Trump tweeted on Thursday evening. “Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!”

A number of Democratic lawmakers, including Representative Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), condemned Trump’s statement. Rice accused the president of tweeting "like a child."

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) tweeted that America has a "moral obligation" to combat climate change.

Senators Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also weighed in. Harris urged the local governments to confront climate issues because the Trump administration won't, while Whitehouse requested Trump to read a report on climate change written by his own administration.

Democratic Representative Ted Lieu tweeted that either the president “doesn't understand the science behind climate change, or he is intentionally misleading the American people.”

Virginia Representative Don Beyer (D) said Trump made a big mistake when referred to the amount Washington would pay under the Paris agreement as "trillions" of dollars. He also said Trump does not understand the climate deal.

In June, Trump announced that he would pull the United States out of the 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, characterizing the decision as "a reassertion of American sovereignty."

"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," Trump said then.

The move, which fulfills a campaign promise made just over a year ago, has drawn rebuke from Democrats at home and world leaders who had pressed Trump not to abandon the 197-nation accord.

Trump considers climate change a hoax

Trump had vowed during the election campaign to "cancel" the Paris agreement within 100 days of becoming president on January 20 in order to bolster the US oil and coal giants, which bankrolled his campaign.

Trump has labeled climate change a hoax, defying widening international support for the Paris agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He has argued that the concept of global warming has been “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”

Environmental groups have long argued against spending billions of dollars to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants when the same funds could help expedite the transition to wind and solar power.

The Paris agreement was reached on November 4, 2016 and has been signed by 197 countries. 135 of them have now formally ratified the agreement. They represent more than 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Paris agreement seeks to avert climate change by limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures by 2050. It also sets out a goal of reaching a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius, if possible.

The adopted text acknowledges that the risks of climate change are much more serious than previously thought. The deal is to take effect in 2020.

‘Trump committed to destroying planet’

Leading American political analyst and philosopher Noam Chomsky has also said that the Trump administration is profoundly endangering the earth.

In a recent interview with Democracy Now!, Chomsky repeated the remarks he made in November last year about Trump’s Republican Party, calling it the most “dangerous organization in human history.”

Chomsky said the Trump administration had shown a total disregard for the future of the earth and is determined to dismantle the system in place to tackle climate change.

He said the administration is “systematically” undermining governmental institutions, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, for the sake of “profits and power.”

In a previous interview with Democracy Now!, Chomsky had called the possibility of a nuclear war and global warming the greatest threats to mankind’s existence.