to further explain

In the last post, I did not do any service into explaining how climate change could affect national security. (As a side note, I want to emphasize that I tend to not fall into a mass fear mentality state of mind, and this is no indication that I am moving towards that, I just feel it is important to note.)

I found two other articles today that start to highlight why climate crisis and national security have the potential of being inextricably linked.

In the first article, Financial Crisis May Worsen Food Crunch it Eclipsed, via the Christian Science Monitor, the impact of the global food crisis is discussed.

And, although commodity prices for a wide range of crops have fallen by as much as 50 percent from record highs in June, the financial crisis is expected to make it dramatically worse: credit for farmers could dry up, meaning less money to buy fertilizer and seed, leading in turn to greater global shortages of food.

Why does this tie into climate change? Because the impact of global warming is going to make our food crisis that much worse. We are already seeing dead zones where nothing can be grown or raised. If we continue to have a water crisis, crops will not be able to grow. And, then there is the whole discussion of GMO food and it’s potential impact on food supply.

The next article, Mob runs riot as Zimbabwe runs out of water, via the Times UK, shows in concrete terms what happens when communities run out of natural resources:

The seething anger felt by ordinary Zimbabweans exploded yesterday as hundreds of off-duty soldiers went on the rampage in the centre of Harare. Witnesses said that the violence erupted at a bus depot on the edge of the city centre where soldiers, frustrated at not being able to draw cash from banks, confronted illegal moneychang-ers. The dealers scattered and the soldiers turned on the city, followed by civilians spurring them on.

Now, I do not want to lessen the reality that Zimbabwe is being affected by a dictatorial political climate, as well. But who is to say that couldn’t happen to us? In a worse case scenario, if we run out of food or water, do you not think that the President would institute curfews and martial law to prevent any social unrest? You bet he or she would. Or, if we were the only country that still had food and water, do you not think our borders would need to be protected? That is not to say we wouldn’t be helping people, but protecting ourselves may be something we would have to seriously consider.

My point being is that until recently we haven’t had to link national security and natural resources. But, things have dramatically shifted in the global arena, that results in the shift of policy. As I think about this, I feel more and more confident that we have chosen the best man, and therefore the best staff, for the job.