Al Gore: Without Climate Action, ‘We Could Lose Our Capacity for Self-Governance’

Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that if the climate continues to warm, we “would lose our capacity for self-governance.”

Anchor Jake Tapper asked, “What happens if the world doesn’t react? What’s the worst-case scenario?”

Gore said, “The scientist who has warned us of these mega-storms and the floods and mudslides and droughts and the ice melting and the sea level rising and the storms getting stronger and the tropical diseases and climate and migrants crossing international borders in large numbers. They were dead right when they warned us about this, and so we need to pay more attention to them now.”

He continued, “Here is one thing they say: if we don’t take action, there could be as many as 1 billion climate refugees crossing international borders in the next several decades. Well, a few million have contributed to this wave of populist authoritarianism and dictatorships and so forth. What would a billion do? We can’t do this. We could lose our capacity for self-governance.”

Gore added, “Already, we’ve seen people driven from the places they’ve always called home, and we’re seeing an expansion of areas in the world that are physiologically unlivable now because of the combination of heat and humidity. They’re relatively small areas now, but if we don’t act, they will expand to include most of India, large parts of Northern and South America, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, the list goes on. The survival of our civilization is at stake. And it sounds dire, but it is dire.”

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