Global Military Leaders: Climate Change a Massive Security Threat | Sojourners

Global Military Leaders: Climate Change a Massive Security Threat

Maj. Gen. Munir Muniruzzaman, the chairman of the Global Military Advisory Council on climate change, said that climate change "is the greatest security threat of the 21st century,” reports the Guardian. He and other military leaders are warning the world that action must be done now to combat climate change’s effects.

“We’re going to see refugee problems on an unimaginable scale, potentially above 30 million people,” said Maj. Gen. Muniruzzaman.

In Sept. 2016, 25 U.S. military and national security experts released a report stating that climate change threatens U.S. national security and international security, and that dealing with its dangers “must therefore be a core priority.”

“Climate change could lead to a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions,” said Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, the CEO of the American Security Project and a member of the U.S. state department’s foreign affairs policy board.

Brig. Gen. Cheney continued:

“We’re already seeing migration of large numbers of people around the world because of food scarcity, water insecurity, and extreme weather, and this is set to become the new normal.”

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump stated that global warming isn't real. Brig. Gen. Cheney hopes that President-elect Trump can be convinced otherwise. Brig. Gen. Cheney's concern matches that of Rear Adm. Neil Morisetti, the climate and energy security envoy of the U.K. 

“Climate change is a strategic security threat that sits alongside others like terrorism and state-on-state conflict, but it also interacts with these threats,” said Rear Adm. Neil Morisetti.

"It is complex and challenging; this is not a concern for tomorrow, the impacts are playing out today," he continued.

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