Global insecurity and refugee crisis linked to climate change: expert

(Reuters, 26 Aug 2015) Climate change is "adding fuel to the fire" of worsening political instability and unrest around the world, an expert told a security forum.

"We are experiencing a surprising uptick in global insecurity... partially due to our inability to manage climate stress," Columbia University professor Marc Levy, who conducts studies for U.S. government agencies, said on Tuesday at the Global Security Initiative, a research body in Arizona.

Ongoing violence in Syria, for example, is connected with climate change, Levy said.

A record drought in Syria from 2006 to 2010 wreaked havoc on agriculture, spurring an exodus of unemployed rural residents into urban areas and intensifying dissatisfaction with the government.

Refugees fleeing conflict and violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan are now streaming into Europe.

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Reuters, 26 Aug 2015: Global insecurity and refugee crisis linked to climate change: expert