There are many ways to examine the security implications of extreme environmental events and climate change, such as vulnerability of critical infrastructures (a Department of Defense concern) and international security concerns (e.g., studies of linkages between extreme drought in Syria, mass migration of farmers to the cities, and the beginnings of the civil war). Perhaps the most important implication may be to human security, which focuses on individuals and populations rather than nations and groups of nations. An example of this is currently playing out in Puerto Rico, as all aspects of life there continue to be impacted as the island struggles with its recovery from Hurricane Maria. It should be noted that even though the nation-state is not the focus of human security, when these humanitarian disasters occur, there are often national and international security repercussions (the events in Syria and Puerto Rico provide vivid examples). The increases in frequency of extreme environmental events and climatic anomalies expected under global climate change mean that these concerns will only increase in time. Capabilities such as FEWSNET provide good templates for what can be done across multiple agencies and disciplines, but more interdisciplinary research needs to be done to expand upon these as well as build new capabilities. This session gathers practitioners and researchers from multiple disciplines to examine ways to improve our ability to anticipate and react to these events when they occur, but ultimately find ways to become proactive and mitigate these environmental and climatic risks across the globe.
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