“No country will be spared” climate change's effects

The US government just released major reports on the national security threat posed by climate change; Ethiopian forces strike Tigray targets for the third day this week.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes. 

Intel community warns of national security threat of climate change

Graeme Jennings/Getty Images

• US government agencies, including the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, released several reports on Thursday analyzing the national security risks that climate change poses. [White House]
• DNI issued a first-of-its-kind report analyzing how climate change will affect societies and exacerbate geopolitical conflict. The National Intelligence Estimate on climate change assesses risk in three broad categories — geopolitical tension over climate response, geopolitical flashpoints over climate change, and country-level instability exacerbated by climate change. [Office of the Director of National Intelligence]
• The NIE presents a consensus view of all the intelligence agencies — including the CIA and the National Security Agency — on a given issue. The NIE on climate change builds on past assessments from the ODNI warning that climate change will be a major driver of instability and insecurity in the future. [Washington Post / Shane Harris and Michael Birnbaum]
• The NIE identifies 11 countries — India, Pakistan, Haiti, North Korea, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Colombia, Iraq, Honduras, and Nicaragua — that are particularly vulnerable to climate-exacerbated instability due to their governments’ inability to deal with major climate-induced crises like droughts and flooding. The assessment states that these countries could be particularly prone to both internal and external conflict because of these vulnerabilities. [CBS / Olivia Gazis]
• The DoD’s assessment looks at how the military must build climate change into its strategy and future planning. That report examines how the military’s resources will be affected by major weather events, as well as how climate change will factor into conflict and rivalries with adversaries like China. [NYT / Christopher Flavelle, Julian E. Barnes, Eileen Sullivan, and Jennifer Steinhauer]
• The White House and DHS released reports of their own, with the White House report focusing on migration trends caused by climate change, and the DHS report operating as a framework to deal with severe weather events. [White House, Department of Homeland Security]
• Together, the documents paint a grim, but predictable, future in which resource scarcity contributes even more to conflict, nations squabble over how to respond to climate change, and adversaries like Russia and China could take advantage of the instability and vulnerability brought on by the climate crisis. [CNN / Nikki Carvajal]
• The reports come just before the UN Climate Conference is scheduled to begin in Glasgow, Scotland. As Biden’s ambitious plan to combat climate change, the Clean Electricity Performance Program, has all but died in the Senate, the reports may signal to other nations that the US is taking the issue of climate change seriously. [Al Jazeera]

Ethiopian forces carry out airstrikes in Tigray 

• The Ethiopian government is carrying out airstrikes against Mekelle, the capital of the embattled Tigray region, for the third day this week. This time, the target was a former Ethiopian military base now being used as a training camp for Tigrayan forces. [Reuters]
• The central government has been locked in a civil war in Tigray for nearly a year now, causing thousands of deaths and forcing around 2 million people to flee their homes. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, is mostly in control of the region after some initial victories on the part of the national forces. [NYT / Declan Walsh and Abdi Latif Dahir]
• Previous attacks this week have produced several casualties, including three deaths and several injuries. However, there were no reports of casualties from Thursday’s attack on the training facility. [Al Jazeera]
• Tigrayan officials have accused the Ethiopian forces of targeting civilian facilities. If true, this would be just the latest accusation of atrocities on both sides during the 11-month conflict. [CNN / Bethlehem Feleke, Katie Polglase, and Gianluca Mezzofiore]

Former President Donald Trump announced his plans Thursday for a social media and technology company called Truth Social, after being booted from major social media platforms. [NPR / Dana Farrington]

• Syria’s Assad regime has diverted $100 million in humanitarian aid for its own use since 2019 by manipulating the Syrian pound’s exchange rate, new research finds — making foreign aid incredibly lucrative for Syrian government officials. [Guardian / Tessa Fox]
• China pulled Boston Celtics games from streaming after center Enes Kanter called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “brutal dictator” in pro-Tibet social media posts. [NYT / Raymond Zhong and Sopan Deb]
• US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that former Afghan militant Asadullah Haroon Gul has been held at Guantánamo Bay illegally, the first such ruling against the US government in 10 years. [Washington Post / Spencer S. Hsu]

“I’m here to add my voice and speak out about what is happening in Tibet. Under the Chinese government’s brutal rule, Tibetan people’s basic rights and freedoms are nonexistent.”

[Basketball player Enes Kanter in a video discussing human rights abuses in Tibet perpetrated by the Chinese government; Kanter also wore custom “Free Tibet” shoes during a Boston Celtics game Wednesday to emphasize his message]

What's going on with the supply chain? And, most importantly — will you get your Christmas gifts on time? [Spotify]

Read more from Vox

Elephants are losing their tusks in the face of rampant poaching

Democrats are setting up social policies for painful cliffs

How New York overengineered its million-dollar vaccine passport

It’s time for Americans to buy less stuff

Why Fannie Lou Hamer’s definition of “freedom” still matters

This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.

View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.

Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.