Over the past week, as attention to the humanitarian crisis in Syria has heightened in the United States, the mainstream media has taken a closer look at some of the underlying factors that contributed to unrest in the country, including some of the environmental, climatic and natural resource security issues at play in the lead up to the revolution. This coverage has included interviews with us, commentary from William Polk and Nayan Chanda, and references to key documents and evidence. Below is a list of links to the news coverage, previous articles on the issue, and a few of the key documents cited (note: we are not responsible for any of the headlines!)

• The Washington Post
  Brad Plumer, “Drought helped cause Syria’s war. Will climate change bring more like it?” September 10, 2013
  Jason Samenow, “Drought and Syria: manmade climate change or just climate?” September 9, 2013
  Alice Fordham, “Amid unrest, Syrians struggle to feed their families,” May 1, 2012

• Toronto Star
  Raveena Aulakh, “A rural exodus as drought takes hold of Syria,” March, 2013

• Salon
  Lindsay Abrams, “How climate change is linked to Syria’s war,” September 10, 2013

• NPR
  “How Could A Drought Spark a Civil War?” September 8, 2013

• NOAA
  “NOAA study: Human-caused climate change a major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts,” October 7, 2011

• The New York Times
  Thomas L. Friedman, “The Scary Hidden Stressor,” March 2, 2013
  Thomas L. Friedman, “The Other Arab Spring,” April 7, 2012
  Robert F. Worth, “Earth is Parched Where Syrian Farms Thrived,” October 13, 2010

• NBC News
  Sam Schulz, “Chemical Weapons and Syria’s Civil War: What You Need to Know,” September 8, 2013

• The National Review
  Alec Torres, “Global Warming, the Real Cause of the Syrian Civil War?” September 9, 2013

• National Geographic
  Peter Gleick, “Syria, Water, Climate Change and Violent Conflict,” June 10, 2013

• Moyers & Company
  John Light, “Drought Helped Spark Syria’s Civil War – Is it One of Many Climate Wars to Come?” September 6, 2013

• IRIN
  “Syria: Why the water shortages?” March 25, 2010
  “Act now to stop desertification, says FAO,” June 15, 2010
  “Syria: Drought driving farmers to the cities,” September 2, 2009

• International Food Policy Research Institute
  Breisinger et al, “Global and Local Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Syria and Options for Adaptation,” June 2011

• Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction
  Wadid Erian, Bassem Katlan, Ouldbeday Babah, “Drought vulnerability in the Arab region, Special case study: Syria” 2010

• The Daily Caller News Foundation
  “Did global warming cause the Syrian civil war?” September 9, 2013

• Climate Progress
  Joe Romm, “Arab Summer: Warming-Fueled Drought Helped Spark Syria’s Civil War,” September 8, 2013
  Joe Romm, “Syria: Climate Change, Drought and Social Unrest,” March 3, 2012
  Joe Romm, “NOAA Bombshell: Human-Caused Climate Change Already a Major Factor in More Frequent Mediterranean Droughts,” October 27, 2010

• The Christian Science Monitor
  “Did climate change cause the Syrian uprising?” March 25, 2013

• The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
  Shahrzad Mohtadi, “Climate change and the Syrian uprising?“ August 16, 2012

• BBC Radio Scotland
  “Interview on drought, climate and social unrest in Syria,“ September 9, 2013

• The Atlantic
  William R. Polk, “Your Labor Day Syria Reader, Part 2: William Polk,” September 2, 2013
  Interview with Tim McDonnell, “Climate Change: The Secret Inflamer of the Arab Spring,” March 6, 2013

• The American Spectator
  Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi & Oskar Svadkovsky, “Demography is Destiny in Syria,” February 6, 2012