By John Gregory/Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO – If climate change has the expected impact on Illinois agriculture, one group says the ramifications will be felt far beyond the state’s borders.
The American Security Project considers climate change a national security threat due to its expected effects on weather, energy consumption, public health, and agriculture.
For example, if a drought affects crop yields in Illinois, a spike in prices could lead to unrest in other nations. Andrew Holland, the project’s senior fellow for climate and energy, says that may have been a factor in the 2011 uprisings in the Arab world.
“In early 2011, that price spike led into the price of bread in Egypt and Tunisia and across the Middle East, and all of that, frankly, caused a lot of unrest going on there,” Holland said.
On a more local level, climate change may affect security through weather and public health. More frequent heavy downpours would lead to more flooding of homes and whole neighborhoods, and longer heat waves would increase the number of waterborne diseases and heat-related deaths.
Illinois is already set to be home to a new center focused on the relationship between climate change and national security, the Center for Integrated Resiliency Analyses at Argonne National Laboratory.
