Responding to the recent horrific attacks on Paris, France by extremists, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stressed that the effects of climate change are strongly linked to the growth of terrorism.
The state senator made the statement during the recent Democratic debate held on November 14, according to CBS News.
As noted by Sanders, the world's changing climate will bring forth various environmental issues including drought and flash floods. Effects such as these will then have a direct impact on natural water resources and food supply.
Due to the dwindling resources, Sanders said conflicts between different groups and even countries will increase.
"In fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism," he said during the debate. "And if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say you're going to see countries all over the world - this is what the CIA says - they're going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their groups."
"And you're going to see all kinds of international conflict," he added.
Sanders then went on to say that the worsening environmental conditions will subject people to situations that can leave them more susceptible to joining extremist groups.
"When people can't grow their crops, they're going to migrate into cities," he said according to USA Today. "And when people migrate into cities, and they don't have jobs, there's going to be a lot more instability, a lot more unemployment."
"And people will be subject to the types of propaganda that Al Qaeda and ISIS are using right now," he added. "So, where you have discontent, where you have instability, that's where problems arise. And, certainly, without a doubt, climate change will lead to that."
Sanders' recent statements seem to support what U.S. President Barack Obama said about climate change being the biggest threat facing the public right now. This is why the President, along with the U.N., strongly believe that despite the security risks, the leaders of the countries should still push through with the climate change talks scheduled to happen in Paris next month, Think Progress reported.
However, Sanders' stance regarding the correlation between the two global issues was criticized by various groups including members of the Republican Party. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said that the presidential candidate is just trying to connect a topic he is deeply passionate about with another big issue even though they are unrelated just to gain the attention of the public, according to Scientific American.
