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Join Us for the Launch of the 2022 World Climate and Security Series
By Elsa Barron
Join the International Military Council on Climate Security’s Expert Group on June 7, 2022, at 5 PM CET/ 11 AM ET for the launch of the 2022 World Climate and Security Report Series (register here). The 2022 Series includes three components reflecting the priorities in the NATO Climate Change and Security Action Plan — risk assessment, mitigation challenges and opportunities, and climate adaptation strategies. Given the already existing and intensifying impacts of climate change, each component of the series is designed to equip policymakers to move from planning to action to address the consequent security threats.
Our virtual launch event (register here) will feature remarks from IMCCS leadership, the Honorable Sherri Goodman and General Tom Middendorp (Ret), as well as the Luxembourg Minister of Defense Francois Bausch and other special guests. We hope you can join us!
Register here.
UPDATE 6/7/2022: Read the report here.
A Threat to Ecological Security from Inter-Species Viral Distributions Driven by Climate Change
Most of the security analysis on climate change effects has been focused on human systems and how people need to mitigate and adapt to those effects. However, these same effects will also create multiple opportunities for humans to become hosts for new pathogens, such as viruses, potentially significantly altering and disrupting both human systems and the ecosystems they are an integral member of (see here). A recently published study in Nature investigating how climate change is contributing to an increase in cross-species viral spread among mammals spotlights the criticality of incorporating ecological security into broader national security analyses.
(more…)South Asia’s Scorching Heatwave: Another Window Into Our Climate-Insecure Planet
South Asia’s cruel heatwave in recent weeks has seen land temperatures reach 122 F (49 C) and air temperatures as high as 143 F (62 C) in India and Pakistan. A brutal April was preceded by a searing March, both setting records on the subcontinent for those months. The peak summer period in the region is in May and early June, so the early arrival of extreme temperatures was another unusual characteristic of this heatwave.
(more…)Learning to Love Deserts
Editor’s Note: This is a bit different than our usual posts analyzing the latest government policies and emerging risks. But as the 15th UN Conference on Desertification begins this week, we thought it was an important reminder of the beauty and importance of one of the geographies we often examine through a climate security lens.
I used to hate deserts. They scorch in the day and then chill at night. They can infuriate in ways few other landscapes do, that pesky sand sneaking into every book, bag, and electronic cranny. Most importantly (to me), it can be hard to disassociate these thirsty, hostile-looking expanses from death and disaster. Through years of environmental reporting in mostly arid or semi-arid parts of the Middle East and Africa, I thought I’d seen far too many desert dwellers struggle with the harshness of their surroundings to perceive these places as anything other than unpleasant sufferfests– particularly as climate change makes them that bit hotter and thirstier. What is there to like about environments that appear almost calculated to pitch their inhabitants against one another?
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