Climage Change and Terrorism

I'm sure you've seen, floating around the right side of the internet, the smug derision pointed at Senator Sanders (and others) for linking Climate Change and Terrorism, right?

So the next time when your crazie right wing cousin or otherwise friendly conservative/libertarian friend, tries to ridicule the idea of a connection between the rising temperatures and terrorism, just point them here.

And then here (the New York Times, October 2014)

The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting decisively that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more global humanitarian crises.

And then here (the Pentagon report itself):

The responsibility of the Department of Defense is the security of our country. That requires thinking ahead and planning for a wide range of contingencies.

Among the future trends that will impact our national security is climate change. Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. They will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources, and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe.

In our defense strategy, we refer to climate change as a “threat multiplier” because it has the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges we are dealing with today – from infectious disease to terrorism. We are already beginning to see some of these impacts.

Climate change is a "threat multiplier" so sayeth the Pentagon.

But wait, there's more:

Maintaining stability within and among other nations is an important means of avoiding full -­scale military conflicts. The impacts of climate change may cause instability in other countries by impairing access to food and water, damaging infrastructure, spreading disease, uprooting and displacing large number s of people, compelling mass migration, interrupting commercial activity, or restricting electricity availability. These developments could undermine already fragile governments that are unable to respond effectively or challenge currently stable governments, as well as increasing competition and tension between countries vying for limited resources. These gaps in governance can create an avenue for extremist ideologies and conditions that foster terrorism. [Emphasis added.]

ISIS, anyone?

If y'inz got a problem with that, take it up with The Pentagon.