Security

Aside from the unusual weather conditions, climate change can bring about changes that threaten to compromise the security situation in any country. As the climate worsens, resources become scarce, especially for agricultural products as sources of food. Abrupt changes in weather conditions can also force people to move from one place to another in search of the climate that suits them well and will allow them to live normally. Migratory policies may then be compromised with the influx of people from one place to another. This is the case seen by Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett of Great Britain. Moreover, a report from the United States entitled “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change” was released to provide the possible consequences of global warming to the security situation. Various actions and collaborations are now being formed to alleviate the possible security threats from global warming.

The adverse effects of global warming to the environment and to human life can cause various risks in the security of a country. A report from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Centre for a New American Society was released in November 2007. The reports stated that calamities such as massive floods can cause people to fight over resources that include land and food. Migration figures are also seen to increase should there be a rise in sea levels which can eventually submerge lands, even countries in the long run.

Another study by Richard Tol and Sebastian Wagner has a different conclusion and says that violence is not directly related to the rise in temperature of the Earth. Their study was based on the events that took place in the 18th century where the number of conflicts did not originate from the average temperature during that time, thus no statistical correlation was established.