Home

Global Warming - Cause of Wars?

Comment by Larry Ross, April 20, 2007

As the effects of global warming increasingly effect the planet, there will be more wars over shrinking food resources and a changed, less hospitable environment. That's the finding of those who study the climate trends and make predictions as indicated below. Climate change has finally become a common public concern. But it has not yet resulted in the big changes needed in human behaviour.

It does divert people's attention from Bush's threats to make nuclear war on Iran. That is a 2007 immediate threat to all humanity as it could trigger a world war III and end humanity. Even if a world war III is not an immediate result of the US attack on Iran, there will be a great increase in Middle East wars and hostility toward the US . It will be brought home to people that Bush really has changed US nuclear doctrines to permit US pre-emptive nuclear war on non-nuclear states, and allow the US introduction of nuclear weapons into conventional weapon wars. World instability will greatly increase as a result of Bush's endless "wars on terror". It will be made worse by the increase in global warming.

The increased militarization of US society, and outer space coupled with the pursuit of global domination through war, will breed increased hostility and suspicion of the US by other nations. There will likely be more wars and destruction of the environment through war. Each new war means more militarization of US society and a more powerful, profitable military-industrial-Congressional complex as warned by President Eisenhower when he left office in 1961. It's progressively become much worse since 1961.

As profit is the driving force of US politics - there is little inclination to develop serious policies to reduce global warming and cope with its effects.

With 8-9 nuclear weapon states, increased suspicion, and wars that can rapidly escalate, coupled with the decline of international law and the UN the likelihood will increase of nuclear wars. People have been encouraged to forget or disregard President Kennedy's l962 warning that we all "live under a dangling nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads and ready to be cut at any moment by accident, miscalculation or act of madness". This and many similar warnings have not resulted in remedial action, as the situation worsens.

Thus even if a nuclear world war III is not immediately triggered by a US nuclear strike on Iran, the risks of it happening soon after will have been greatly increased. Considering the lack of awareness, or concern among those who are aware, and the lack of action to reverse or stop war policies, the outlook for human survival is bleak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Could global warming cause war?

A new report warns that conflicts over water and food could intensify as the climate changes.

by Brad Knickerbocker, Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, April 19, 2007

For years, the debate over global warming has focused on the three big "E's": environment, energy, and economic impact. This week it officially entered the realm of national security threats and avoiding wars as well.

A platoon of retired US generals and admirals warned that global warming "presents significant national security challenges to the United States." The United Nations Security Council held its first ever debate on the impact of climate change on conflicts. And in Congress, a bipartisan bill would require a National Intelligence Estimate by all federal intelligence agencies to assess the security threats posed by global climate change.

Many experts view climate change as a "threat multiplier" that intensifies instability around the world by worsening water shortages, food insecurity, disease, and flooding that lead to forced migration. That's the thrust of a 35-page report (PDF) by 11 admirals and generals this week issued by the Alexandria, Va.-based national security think tank The CNA Corporation. The study, titled National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, predicts:

"Projected climate change will seriously exacerbate already marginal living standards in many Asian, African, and Middle Eastern nations, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states.... The chaos that results can be an incubator of civil strife, genocide, and the growth of terrorism.

"The U.S. may be drawn more frequently into these situations, either alone or with allies, to help provide stability before conditions worsen and are exploited by extremists. The U.S. may also be called upon to undertake stability and reconstruction efforts once a conflict has begun, to avert further disaster and reconstitute a stable environment."

Continue.....