Climate change drives political instability: CIA director

If climate change is not brought under control, the world will face more humanitarian crises such as the one unfolding in Syria, one of the world's most prominent security experts warned.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director John Brennan said in a speech Tuesday morning that climate change causing compromised access to food and water “greatly increases the prospect for famine and deadly epidemics.”

During his talk to the Global Security Forum 2015 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Brennan said humankind’s relationship with the natural world is a potential source of security threats.

Noting that 2014 was the warmest year on record and 2015 promises to surpass that, Brennan pointed out extreme weather, along with public policies affecting food and water supplies, can increase or create humanitarian crises.