ENVS623 - CLIMATE & SECURITY

Climate change is increasingly presented as posing significant security risks, but the relationship is much more complex than such a simple cause-effect statement might suggest. Researchers from diverse fields including geography, climatology, and political science are actively engaging questions about what kinds of security are threatened by climate change and through what mechanisms. For example, will severe drought lead to violent conflict? Who is vulnerable to reduced soil moisture or increased coastal erosion and why? What are the consequences of viewing a problem as a livelihood versus national security risk? Who are the winners and losers of climate change-based security interventions? This course will orient students to the evolving debate on the relationship between climate change and its impacts on national, human, and environmental security.