In a telling exchange during the first Democratic primary presidential debate earlier this month, the candidates were asked to articulate the greatest threat to US national security. “It’s certainly the chaos in the Middle East,” answered Lincoln Chafee, the former senator and governor of Rhode Island who later dropped out of the race. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders responded to the question by citing the “global crisis of climate change.” Whether you agree with either candidate’s assessment, it’s a mistake to talk about global conflict and climate change without highlighting how the two phenomena are inextricably linked. Extreme weather and resource scarcity exacerbated by climate change are worsening the effects of war, from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa, with civilians often bearing the brunt of […]