A professor from John Jay College co-authored a piece for the Huffington Post saying that global warming is what really led to the rise of ISIL. Professor Strozier connected a drought in Syria with the terrorist group, according to Campus Reform.
Charles Strozier, Professor of History and the founding Director of the John Jay College Center on Terrorism and Kelly Berkell, research assistant at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, wrote a blog piece in the Huffington Post called " How Climate Change Helped ISIS," where they argue that a four-year drought in Syria, from 2006 through 2010, "devastated the livelihoods of 800,000 farmers and herders; and knocked two to three million people into extreme poverty."
"As the Obama administration undertakes a highly public, multilateral campaign to degrade and destroy the militant jihadists known as ISIS, ISIL ,and the Islamic State," the two write, "many in the West remain unaware that climate played a significant role in the rise of Syria's extremists."
The piece labels many in Syria "climate refugees." It also blames a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan on climate change.
"If more Americans knew how glacial melt contributes to catastrophic weather in Afghanistan—potentially strengthening the Taliban and imperiling Afghan girls who want to attend school—would we drive more hybrids and use millions fewer plastic bags? How would elections and legislation be influenced?" they write.
However, global warming skeptics say the claims are "idiocy" and pointed out that neither professor Strozier nor his co-author are climate scientists.