O’Malley draws RNC scorn over Syria, climate - By Steve Benen

[DonViejo]

Republican leaders have generally been content to ignore former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democratic presidential hopeful, focusing their energies instead on Hillary Clinton, but that wasn’t the case yesterday. The Huffington Post reported:

Republicans are outraged that Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley cited actual scientific research in comments about how climate change has contributed to internal conflicts in Syria.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, O’Malley discussed the national security implications of climate change. “One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms – or rather, the conditions – of extreme poverty that has now led to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence,” he said.

Republicans and their allies pounced. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called the Democrat’s comments “absurd.” In conservative media, Fox’ Stuart Varney dismissed O’Malley’s concerns as “nonsense,” while another conservative outlet said the former governor is “saying truly brazenly silly things to get attention.”

It’s hard to say what role facts and evidence play in a dispute like this, but isn’t O’Malley correct?

more
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/omalley-draws-rnc-scorn-over-syria-climate?cid=eml_mra_20150722

[FSogol]

1. Yes, O'Malley is correct. And now the GOP needs to pretend that a drought cannot affect an economy.

Reince Priebus and the GOP mindset is absurd.

[MH1]

2. O'Malley is very much correct, and demonstrates the intelligence we need in a leader.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112788637

[bigtree]

3. lots already on the wire about this - of course O'Malley's right

Lis Smith ?@Lis_Smith (Deputy Campaign Manager, Communicator for @MartinOMalley)

Hey @Reince: bring it on



related:

Monday, on Bloomberg’s “With All Due Respect,” Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley said “the rise of ISIS, was preceded by climate change,” and in his administration he would solve problems before they get to the point where only a military option is available.

O’Malley said, “I believe we’re in search of a new story that makes sense of our fundamental principles in a world that is now very different from the 1990’s or from the Cold War. And I believe America’s role in the world is to lead by example [with] the rise of a global middle class. And I believe that the way we do that in these times, is to create a foreign policy that’s more about engagement and collaboration, and national security strategy, that seeks new alliances to identify threats, and to work with other nations, to reduce them before we’re kind of backed into a corner where it seems the only response is a military response, American boots on the ground or not.”

He explained, “For example, one of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change and the megadrought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms — or rather, the conditions — of extreme poverty that has now led to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence.”

Ben Schreckinger ?@SchreckReports
Apparently @Reince doesn't believe climate change is contributing to conditions that are helping fuel ISIS's rise. BUT pnas.org/content/112/11/3241 …

Before the Syrian uprising that began in 2011, the greater Fertile Crescent experienced the most severe drought in the instrumental record. For Syria, a country marked by poor governance and unsustainable agricultural and environmental policies, the drought had a catalytic effect, contributing to political unrest. We show that the recent decrease in Syrian precipitation is a combination of natural variability and a long-term drying trend, and the unusual severity of the observed drought is here shown to be highly unlikely without this trend. Precipitation changes in Syria are linked to rising mean sea-level pressure in the Eastern Mediterranean, which also shows a long-term trend. There has been also a long-term warming trend in the Eastern Mediterranean, adding to the drawdown of soil moisture. No natural cause is apparent for these trends, whereas the observed drying and warming are consistent with model studies of the response to increases in greenhouse gases. Furthermore, model studies show an increasingly drier and hotter future mean climate for the Eastern Mediterranean. Analyses of observations and model simulations indicate that a drought of the severity and duration of the recent Syrian drought, which is implicated in the current conflict, has become more than twice as likely as a consequence of human interference in the climate system.

read: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241 … ( Proceedings of the National Academy of Science)

NYT: Researchers Link Syrian Conflict to a Drought Made Worse by Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html?_r=2

O’Malley (6/27/2015): ISIS Is A Result Of America’s ‘Mindless Rush To War’
http://www.mintpressnews.com/omalley-isis-is-a-result-of-americas-mindless-rush-to-war/207052/

Haley Morris ?@haleymorris
Martin O’Malley links global warming to ISIS; Republicans promptly flip out http://www.salon.com/2015/07/21/martin_omalley_links_global_warming_to_isis_republicans_promptly_flip_out/ … via @Salon #omalley2016

Haley Morris ?@haleymorris
Fact: @GOP Is Upset That Martin O'Malley Cited Actual Science On Climate Change And Conflict http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/omalley-climate-change-syria_55ae7ed0e4b07af29d56793c … #OMalley2016

Haley Morris ?@haleymorris 24h24 hours ago
When @GOP attacks science, @MartinOMalley will give them a reality check: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/21/martin-omalley-tangles-with-the-rnc-over-the-connection-between-climate-change-and-isis/ … #OMalley2016

Salon.com ?@Salon 20h20 hours ago
GOP mocks Martin O’Malley for linking global warming with national security -- but the Pentagon takes it seriously http://slnm.us/mYYiIwr

Media Matters: Fox Continues To Slam O'Malley For Accurately Pointing Out Role Of Climate Change In Rise Of ISIL

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley was on solid ground when he recently linked climate change to the rise of ISIL, but Fox personalities and other conservative media figures have continued their deceptive onslaught against his remarks.

As Media Matters detailed, multiple expert studies and reports explain how a severe drought likely due to climate change caused economic and social conditions in Syria to deteriorate, which provided "tinder" for the 2011 uprising there. Experts have also detailed how ISIL took advantage of Syria's civil war to gain territory and establish a base of operations in the country. O'Malley summarized this research accurately during a July 20 interview with Bloomberg Television, saying "Climate change and the mega-drought ...created a humanitarian crisis" in Syria that "led now to the rise of ISIL."

Read more about the connection between global warming and the rise of ISIL here.

read: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/07/22/fox-continues-to-slam-omalley-for-accurately-po/204529