Climate Change And The Syrian Civil War: The 5 Truths You Need To Know


There has been pushback from many conservatives after Senator Bernie Sanders’ statement this past Saturday night that climate change is linked to the war in Syria. To be honest, when he first said it, even I cocked my head and thought, “Is he serious?

However, once I started doing more research on the topic, I realized how profoundly climate change did play a role in the current Syrian crisis. This isn’t to say that it was the sole factor, or that other factors like the invasion of Iraq didn’t contribute to it, but it played much more of a role than many may realize.

 

(1) Climate Change Worsened An Already Naturally Occurring Drought 

To be fair, there was already a drought in what is called the “Fertile Crescent,” which covers Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. However, one of the lead researchers stated, it was the “most severe on record, and its severity matched trends expected to occur with rising temperatures.” Since the rise in temperatures was related to climate change, the researchers focused on how this drought was transformed due to these man made changes.

 

(2) Climate Change Contributed To Water Shortages, Rising Food Prices, and The Death of Livestock

With the massive increase in water shortages caused by the ever worsening drought, farmers lost their livelihood through a number of ways. The lack of water led to the death of their livestock and their inability to grow crops. This, in turn, led to a rise in food prices for everyone. Without proper food and nutrition, as well as access to water, children became sick, and the entire cycle continued to worsen.

 

(3) Water Shortages Led To Mass Migrations to Syrian Cities

With the ability to produce a living from farming being stripped away, many farmers flocked to the cities in hopes of finding other means of sustaining themselves and their families. The study states that 1.5 million rural Syrian residents fled to the cities, which were already overwhelmed with refugees from the Iraq conflicts.

 

(4) Already Destabilized Cities Crumbled Under The Influx of Migrants

The cities were already suffering from a crumbling infrastructure and tensions were high between those fleeing Iraq and those rural residents who had just arrived. These problems were added to the political instability of the leader and it turned an already volatile situation into a complete inferno.

 

(5) Violence Erupted and Continues To This Day

With a scarcity of resources and a constant influx of people needing assistance flooding into already full cities, it is no surprise that violence erupted against the Syrian leaders. This violence and instability led to a vacuum of power, which in turn, led to ISIS having the ability to take over parts of the country. With many young men already living desperate lives in a struggle to survive, it doesn’t seem implausible that they would look at ISIS as a way of providing meaning to their existence.

 

Again, while climate change is not the sole reason for the Syrian war and current crisis, it clearly played an extremely significant role in destabilizing the entire region. So when someone starts to mock Sanders’ statement about climate change being a threat to national security, feel free to share the science and research behind why he is exactly right.

 

Featured image by CIAT, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.