Climate change can boost terrorism

It is ironic that shortly after the horrific terrorist attacks, Paris is hosting a global summit on climate change. It its report, “2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap,” the Pentagon calls global warming with its symptoms of sea level rise, changing precipitation patterns, rising global temperatures and extreme weather an immediate risk to national security.

According to the report, an increased dependence on fossil fuel leads to global insecurity and thus is a “threat multiplier.” These multipliers have power to exacerbate many of the challenges the U.S. faces, including “infectious diseases and terrorism,” according to the report.

Unless we take climate change seriously, we face global instability, increased hunger and poverty, and amplified disputes over refugees and resources. In short, breeding grounds for terrorists.

When we are fearful, we tend to think short term. It seems to me that one strategic, long term way of fighting terrorism is for us to take leadership and help the world move away from fossil fuel as a prime source of energy.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Climate change can boost terrorism."