Climate Change as a Contributor to Terrorism: A Case Study in Nigeria and Pakistan

This thesis explores the relationship between climate change and terrorism. It seeks to identify climate change as a contributing factor to terrorism. The motivation for this research is the increasing threat from both global issues. The threat of climate change and terrorism were heavily debated topics in the United States 2016 election, and remain contentious topics for world leaders today. The years 2014 and 2015 were the top two deadliest years for global terrorism, and out of the 17 hottest years on record, 16 of them have occurred since 2000. The world has already begun to see the repercussions of climate change through increases in natural disasters, extreme weather events, and shifting ecosystem characteristics. Political and humanitarian leaders alike are searching for solutions to these seemingly separate issues, but if they analyze climate change and terrorism as related factors, new solutions may appear that could not have been developed previously. This is what this research is hoping to bring to light – that terrorism and climate change are equally threatening to all nations.