The recurring deadly droughts in the Horn of Africa are being made more severe by man-made Climate Change. That in turn is driving societal turmoil and a weakening of the Governments so hard hit by the drought. This is unraveling process has already effectively destroyed the national government of Somalia.
A new study establishes a link between an increased incidence of internal conflicts to the areas of the globe most affected by El Niños made increasingly severe by Climate Change.
Study proves climate a trigger for conflict
Thursday, 25 August 2011
It says tropical countries affected by the notorious El Niño weather event are twice as likely to be hit by internal unrest compared to the phenomenon's cooler, wetter counterpart, La Niña.
The civil war and famine gripping the Horn of Africa is a typical example of what happens when a climate swing causes drought and over-stresses an already fragile society, say its authors.
The inquiry, appearing in the journal Nature, focuses on a naturally occurring pattern of climate change.
But its authors say there is a disturbing lesson about violence driven by human-induced warming, which is expected to bite deep in coming decades.
This study calls to mind another study about Climate Change by the Pentagon that came out two years ago.
Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: August 8, 2009
WASHINGTON — The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.
Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change.
Although military and intelligence planners have been aware of the challenge posed by climate changes for some years, the Obama administration has made it a central policy focus.
It concluded that climate change by itself would have significant geopolitical impacts around the world and would contribute to a host of problems, including poverty, environmental degradation and the weakening of national governments.
The assessment warned that the storms, droughts and food shortages that might result from a warming planet in coming decades would create numerous relief emergencies.
The Pentagon has to take Climate Change seriously even while the Republican Party remains in a state of near complete denial to cater to some of the GOP's biggest corporate sponsors Big Oil and Big Coal. Their marketers have transformed burning lots of gas into some sort of cultural birthright for Americans.
Only in America!