One of the most severe consequences predicted to occur as a result of climate change is war. In this scenario, climate change in a particular region would result in drought and famine, and ultimately, conflict over scarce water and food resources. This horrible situation, which would result not only in death from starvation, but also from the strife that would occur, has so far been considered only a future possibility, after global warming increases substantially. However, in a column in the Washington Post on Saturday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon suggested that this could be occurring right now.
Ban Ki Moon began the article by discussing the agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions that was reached at the G8 Summit. Then, he moved on to United Nations efforts to deal with the ongoing conflict in Darfur. Next, he made an unsuspected accusation – that the two are related:
If true, this would be a very good example of how global warming has real consequences, even now. This is a problem that requires action. To find out how you can do your part, start with the top 50 things you can do.It would be natural to view these as distinct developments. In fact, they are linked. Almost invariably, we discuss Darfur in a convenient military and political shorthand -- an ethnic conflict pitting Arab militias against black rebels and farmers. Look to its roots, though, and you discover a more complex dynamic. Amid the diverse social and political causes, the Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change.
Hunger leads to desperation. Desperation leads to war.
Two decades ago, the rains in southern Sudan began to fail. According to U.N. statistics, average precipitation has declined some 40 percent since the early 1980s. Scientists at first considered this to be an unfortunate quirk of nature. But subsequent investigation found that it coincided with a rise in temperatures of the Indian Ocean, disrupting seasonal monsoons. This suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming.
It is no accident that the violence in Darfur erupted during the drought. Until then, Arab nomadic herders had lived amicably with settled farmers. A recent Atlantic Monthly article by Stephan Faris describes how black farmers would welcome herders as they crisscrossed the land, grazing their camels and sharing wells. But once the rains stopped, farmers fenced their land for fear it would be ruined by the passing herds. For the first time in memory, there was no longer enough food and water for all. Fighting broke out. By 2003, it evolved into the full-fledged tragedy we witness today. - Washington Post
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