Will Global Warming Lead to Global Warring?

Climate change appears to be the driving force behind conflicts in some parts of Africa. If the developing world wants to head off such conflicts, cutting emmissions must be a priority.

1 minute read

March 2, 2005, 6:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley


"Much of arid sub-Saharan Africa, notably in the Sahel (the region just south of the Sahara desert), has experienced a pronounced drop in rainfall over the past quarter-century. This decline coincided with a rise in the surface temperature of the neighboring Indian Ocean, a hint that the decline in rainfall is in fact part of the longer-term process of man-made global warming.

Failures of rainfall contribute not only to famines and chronic hunger, but also to the onset of violence when hungry people clash over scarce food and water. When violence erupts in water-starved regions such as Darfur, Sudan, political leaders tend to view the problems in narrow political terms. If they act at all, they mobilize peacekeepers, international sanctions and humanitarian aid. But Darfur, like Tigre, needs a development strategy to fight hunger and drought even more than it needs peacekeepers. Soldiers cannot keep peace among desperately hungry people."

Thanks to Michael Dudley

Tuesday, March 1, 2005 in TomDispatch

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