1st presidential debate between Trump and Biden spirals into chaotic clash

Climate change -- a hot-button topic for years -- has taken on renewed significance ahead of the 2020 presidential election, with wildfires decimating the West, tropical storms pounding the Gulf Coast and year after year of record temperatures.

Both Trump and Biden largely toe their respective party lines when it comes to issues pertaining to environmental policy.

Throughout his presidency, Trump reversed many American commitments to mitigating climate change, most notably pulling out of the Paris Agreement, removing clean water protections and seeking to fast track environmental reviews of dozens of major energy and infrastructure projects, such as drilling, fuel pipelines and wind farms.

Biden has countered the Trump administration's policies by promising to protect the environment with a proposed a $5 trillion plan.

Here is where each candidate stands on the issues

Biden's campaign announced his three guests to the debate: Kristin Urquiza, Gurneé Green and James Evanoff Jr.

The public first met Urquiza when she shared her story at the Democratic National Convention. She lost her father to COVID-19, and declared his "only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump -- and for that he paid with his life." Urquiza is an environmental advocate at Mighty Earth and co-founded the awareness campaign "Marked by COVID."

Green is a small business owner from Cleveland Heights who was also highlighted during the Democratic National Convention. He owns the Cleveland Heights fashion boutique Chemistry 11. In addition to being a small business owner, Green is a certified health care information technologies analyst and a mother of two.

Evanoff is a service technician in Cleveland. He has eight years of seniority with United Steel Workers and works at ArcelorMittal, which was recently acquired by Cleveland Cliffs.

ABC News' Molly Nagle and Mary Bruce

Trump's first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016 set the record as the most-watched debate in television history, with 84 million viewers, surpassing the previous record of 80.6 million viewers set between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980, according to Nielsen. 

Trump's second debate with Clinton back in 2016 ranks as the ninth most-watched presidential debate with 66.5 million viewers. 

MORE: Trump blames media after DNC tops RNC in TV ratings

On Sunday, a New York Times expose on President Trump’s tax returns revealed decades of tax avoidance and millions of dollars in business losses over the past two decades.

The picture painted by Trump’s returns is sharply at odds with the shrewd, deal-making image the president has tried to fashion as a real estate mogul and TV star on a show built around his business prowess, “The Apprentice.”

Now, five weeks from Election Day, the question is will these new revelations affect the presidential race?

Read the analysis from FiveThirtyEight's Geoffrey Skelley here.