Fears Grow That Climate Conflicts Could Lead to War
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GRAFENWOEHR, GERMANY - APRIL 12: Paratroopers from the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade and UK's 16 Air Assault Brigade take part in the Saber Junction 16 military exercises near the Hohenfels Training Area on April 12, 2016 near Grafenwoehr, Germany. The Saber Junction 16, taking place from March 31 to April 24, is the U.S. Army Europe's largest combat training in 2016 and nearly 5,000 participants from 16 NATO and European partner nations are taking part in the exercise. The U.S. military conducts training exercises with NATO-member armed forces as well as partner nations, many of them eastern European nations, on a regular basis.
Photographer: Matej Divizna/Getty ImagesAmong the 21st-century threats posed by climate change -- rising seas, melting permafrost and superstorms -- European leaders are warning of a last-century risk they know all too well: War.
Focusing too narrowly on the environmental consequences of global warming underestimates the military threats, top European and United Nations officials said at a global security conference in Munich this weekend. Their warnings follow the conclusions of defense and intelligence agencies that climate change could trigger resource and border conflicts.