As the physical world continues to feel the impact of climate change, a genuine security problem arises as individuals try to cope with this phenomenon. These security concerns cannot be ignored because given time they can spill over and become tragic events. Address of challenges facing climatic changes to expect and some actions that may help to mitigate these challenges.
In his speech, rear admiral Morisetti describes these security challenges as of second or third nature. The climate change is not a direct cause of these challenges but only serves to exacerbate the problem. In his speech, the problems will be worse in impoverished states that lie along the equatorial belt (Podesta & Ogden 2008) . These states have a history of sustained conflict that transcends state boundaries that their governments can barely handle. Food and health supplies are also in short supply in such regions and climate change can only hit these areas harder.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
According to Rear Admiral, the problems cannot be overlooked as third world issues because these regions lie along important trade routes. One such is oil from the Middle East as well as food traded along these routes (THE BMJ, 2011). Therefore, it is in the best interest of everybody to try to address any challenges that may develop in such areas because every party will be affected. These threats are of a unique nature and as such, a more holistic approach of tackling them has to be considered.
The first task should be to try and understand the problem, especially where the most vulnerable parts are based. Knowledge of the problem should be of particular importance when trying to come up with lasting solutions. The second role is managing the existing conflict within the impoverished countries. It can be acknowledged that there are serious problems, which every country should try to play their part, however small and address this challenge. Also, it is important to conserve energy by being more efficient in its use, also reduce the emission of GHGs. It is more of an individual than collective or government-based role. The final and most important role of all is spreading the word on climate change and make people understand that it is our planet that is at risk and we should do everything to minimize those risks.
In an interview with CBS Morning, former US VP Al Gore discussed a few important details concerning a press release by the department of defense saying that climate change is a threat to national security. In the interview, he says that intolerable living conditions in parts of North Africa and the Middle East has led to the influx in refugees in Europe from the Middle East. It leads to a crisis and threatens to destabilize the countries harboring these refugees. The extended drought in the eastern Mediterranean has also been cited as one of a number of issues that led to the conflict in Syria. He argues that long before the civil war started, a lengthy drought destroyed 60% of the crop and 80% of livestock leading to a mass migration of people to the cities and the eventual collapse of the governing system in the country (CBS This Morning, 2017).
The former VP went on to say that in some regions such as the Latin American countries that strongly view climate change as a top national security problem, women have been advised to avoid pregnancy due to the Zika virus. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and there has been an increase in the spread of both virus and mosquito due to global warming and this has a direct cause, causing genuine panic in the affected populations. Also, as tropical diseases advance further to higher latitude areas, health costs increase due to lack of developed resistance to the diseases and this threatens food security and adequate water supply (Purvis & Busby, 2004) .
Mr. Al Gore concluded by saying that the persistent denial by the heavy polluters that climate change is not a big deal is a hindrance to enabling the masses to understand the extent of climate change. He goes on to say that increased activist campaigns will serve as an eye-opener to the public and they, in turn, should hold the heavy polluters accountable to their deeds and reduce environmental pollution (Nordås & Gleditsch, 2007) .
In northern Cameroon, increased temperatures reduced rainfall and drying river beds have led to despair in that part of the country. The crisis has made young men leave their cattle, villages and head for the cities. The water shortage in the region has resulted in climate refugees. Poverty in the region only worsens the situation. As if that is not enough, refugees fleeing Boko Haram in Nigeria pile up the pressure on the scarce resources available to the local Cameroonian people (DW Documentary, 2019).
In the Sahel region, it is estimated that since the 1970s, a 100km stretch of arable land has been consumed by desertification ( Purvis & Busby, 2004 ). The loss of livelihood has resulted in people living in camps and being dependent on relief food from the government and NGOs. As a result, more people move south in the hope of farming creating more pressure in those regions.
The dry condition experienced has forced people to move closer and become more reliant on water from Lake Chad. The freshwater lake draws people from Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger, and this pile's more pressure on the lake. The lake has been reducing in size and by 2007; Lake Chad had shrunk by 90%. It is estimated that if the lake disappears, more than 50 million people will become climate refugees ( Podesta & Ogden, 2008 ).
Due to the unique nature of the lake, a number of people depend on it namely fishermen, farmers and herders and this creates fierce competition for the resource. Dwindling fish numbers in the lake coupled with terrorism in Nigeria is phasing out both supply and market for the fishermen. The despair has resulted in conflict between rival groups.
It is estimated that every year, more than 20 million people are being displaced from their areas due to the effects of climate change ( Brown, Hammill, & McLeman, 2007 ). The increase and dwindling resources can only be expected to result in political crisis. In the Sahel region that spans a number of African countries, the numbers are increasing and the people are forced to flee south and west to already overpopulated towns and cities and north to Europe as refugees. As is the case in Syria, it can be seen that when resources are put under extreme pressure, lawlessness may spring up and chaos ensues. The trend can be seen in the Sahel belt where dwindling resources make groups such as Boko Haram engage in terror and hold states at ransom as they are doing in Nigeria (Buhaug, Gleditsch, & Theisen, 2010) .
One way of tackling this has been described by Rear Admiral Morisetti. Peacekeeping missions in the Sahel belt can help mitigate the challenge posed by militia groups such as Boko Haram. Providing relief aid to the people also reduces migration and conflict brought by food and water shortages. Also, when GHG emissions are reduced, the advancement of deserts such as is the case in the Sahel belt can be stemmed (Brown & McLeman, 2007) .
In a nutshell, when people take responsibility for their actions and everyone tries to be as effective as possible regarding GHG emission, the net-zero emission targets that was agreed in the Paris Accord can be achieved. This can result in reduced pressure on the resources and consequently reduced conflict over these resources.
References
Brown, O., Hammill, A., & McLeman, R. (2007). Climate change as the ‘new’security threat: implications for Africa. International affairs , 83 (6), 1141-1154.
Podesta, J., & Ogden, P. (2008). The security implications of climate change. Washington Quarterly , 31 (1), 115-138.
Buhaug, H., Gleditsch, N. P., & Theisen, O. M. (2010). Implications of climate change for armed conflict. Social dimensions of climate change: Equity and vulnerability in a warming world , 75-101.
Purvis, N., & Busby, J. (2004). The security implications of climate change for the UN system. Environmental Change and Security Project Report , 10 , 67-73.
Nordås, R., & Gleditsch, N. P. (2007). Climate change and conflict. Political geography , 26 (6), 627-638.
THE BMJ (2011, Oct 26). The security implications of climate change [Video File] . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrz7eNflCUw
CBS This Morning (2017, Aug 2). Al Gore on why climate change is a national security threat [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYexpYl_-eE
DW Documentary (2019, May 1). Fleeing climate change-the real environmental disaster/DW Documentary [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4Uv9_7KJE
