Food Security: How Drought and Rising Prices Led to Conflict in Syria

Jan 26, 2017 | Aled Jones
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But what [Charlotte Church] said was correct – and there will be an increasing convergence of climate, food, economic and political crises in the coming years and decades.We need to better understand the interconnectivity of environmental, economic, geopolitical, societal and technological systems if we are to manage these crises and avoid their worst impacts.

In particular, tipping points exist in both physical and socio-economic systems, including governmental or financial systems. These systems interact in complex ways. Small shocks may have little impact but, a particular shock or set of shocks could tip the system into a new state. This new state could represent a collapse in agriculture or even the fall of a government.