Mr./Madam President, I rise today for the 160th time to again ask this chamber to wake up to the mounting evidence of climate change.
In the coming decades demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35, 40, and 50 percent around the globe. Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources. The severity of existing weather patterns will intensify, with wet areas getting wetter and dry and arid areas becoming more so. This extreme weather will cause water and soil stress, and increase food insecurity.
Our oceans will become more acidic. Glaciers will melt and sea-levels will rise. Farms and fisheries will fail, leaving people impoverished and dislocated. Scarce resources will lead …show more content…
It’s what is happening today. The conflict in Syria was exacerbated by drought and the accompanying move of a large population into urban centers. The hundreds of thousands killed and the millions of refugees in Europe are a reminder of the damage climate change can cause. In Nigeria, the government is trying to contain three armed conflicts caused in part by climate change and access to water and grazing land. A fight between farmers and herders over wells was a part of the conflict in Sudan that led to the genocide in Darfur. And the dangerous effects of climate change aren’t just being felt a world away. On our southern border, we’ve seen thousands of women and children from Central America arrive in recent years, fleeing drought and gangs, just trying to …show more content…
This year, I once again had the pleasure of serving as the Democratic lead for the congressional delegation led by Senator McCain to the Munich security conference. Every time I go to Munich, I appear on a panel to about the global challenges of climate change. The first year, my panel was in the hotel across the street. Then we were moved to the main hotel, but up in the attic. And then this year, we were on the main-stage, in prime time with three current or former heads of state. Our allies are around the world are taking the threat of climate change more and more seriously. The one place that isn’t, is here, in the U.S.
In the coming decades demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35, 40, and 50 percent around the globe. Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources. The severity of existing weather patterns will intensify, with wet areas getting wetter and dry and arid areas becoming more so. This extreme weather will cause water and soil stress, and increase food insecurity.
Our oceans will become more acidic. Glaciers will melt and sea-levels will rise. Farms and fisheries will fail, leaving people impoverished and dislocated. Scarce resources will lead …show more content…
It’s what is happening today. The conflict in Syria was exacerbated by drought and the accompanying move of a large population into urban centers. The hundreds of thousands killed and the millions of refugees in Europe are a reminder of the damage climate change can cause. In Nigeria, the government is trying to contain three armed conflicts caused in part by climate change and access to water and grazing land. A fight between farmers and herders over wells was a part of the conflict in Sudan that led to the genocide in Darfur. And the dangerous effects of climate change aren’t just being felt a world away. On our southern border, we’ve seen thousands of women and children from Central America arrive in recent years, fleeing drought and gangs, just trying to …show more content…
This year, I once again had the pleasure of serving as the Democratic lead for the congressional delegation led by Senator McCain to the Munich security conference. Every time I go to Munich, I appear on a panel to about the global challenges of climate change. The first year, my panel was in the hotel across the street. Then we were moved to the main hotel, but up in the attic. And then this year, we were on the main-stage, in prime time with three current or former heads of state. Our allies are around the world are taking the threat of climate change more and more seriously. The one place that isn’t, is here, in the U.S.