Kerry warns of refugee crisis due to climate change
"Seismic changes" in temperatures and sea levels could create waves of refugees forced to abandon traditional homes and fight for food and water, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said as he sought commitment from the international community to address the challenge posed by climate change.
"Climate is not a distant threat for our children and their children to worry about....It is happening now," Kerry said in his address 'At the Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement, and Resilience (GLACIER) Conference' at Anchorage in Alaska.
Kerry said that climate change - reflected by what he called "seismic changes" in temperatures and sea levels - could soon create waves of new refugees forced to abandon traditional homes or to fight for food and water.
"And we as leaders of countries will begin to witness what we call climate refugees moving - you think migration is a challenge to Europe today because of extremism, wait until you see what happens when there's an absence of water, an absence of food, or one tribe fighting against another for mere survival," said the Secretary of State.
"Seismic changes" in temperatures and sea levels could create waves of refugees forced to abandon traditional homes and fight for food and water, US Secretary of State John Kerry has said as he sought commitment from the international community to address the challenge posed by climate change.
"Climate is not a distant threat for our children and their children to worry about....It is happening now," Kerry said in his address 'At the Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement, and Resilience (GLACIER) Conference' at Anchorage in Alaska.
Kerry said that climate change - reflected by what he called "seismic changes" in temperatures and sea levels - could soon create waves of new refugees forced to abandon traditional homes or to fight for food and water.
"And we as leaders of countries will begin to witness what we call climate refugees moving - you think migration is a challenge to Europe today because of extremism, wait until you see what happens when there's an absence of water, an absence of food, or one tribe fighting against another for mere survival," said the Secretary of State.