Introduction

Speaking at the United Nations Climate Conference this November, President Biden called climate change "the existential threat to human existence." And in October, the Department of Defense issued its own warning, noting the effects of climate change are "exacerbating existing risks and creating new security challenges for U.S. interests." But while the Pentagon takes climate change's risks seriously, it remains one of the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gasses. This week, we're revisiting another favorite episode from season 1 with Murtaza Hussain, a political and national security reporter for The Intercept, who helped us understand the ecological and health ramifications of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how the military's expansive footprint exacerbates the climate crisis.

Murtaza Hussain is a journalist for The Intercept whose work focuses on national security, foreign policy, and human rights. He is the author of the 2019 article, "Industrialized Militaries Are a Bigger Part of the Climate Emergency Than You Know."