My readers know that I am forever watching international relations and looking for the causes of all the conflicts we are having these days. There is one area that is overlooked when analyzing security…..food and water….
Climate change is a hot button issue most of the time especially here in the US…..there are so many deniers that it becomes almost humorous (I said ALMOST)……
Regardless what one wants to believe there are changes occurring around the world in the climate that we all depend on for a living.
Look at California….the drought there and in parts of Ethiopia and yes even the Middle East are pointing to warning signs that too many are trying to ignore. Food is a extremely important section of what we all like to call “national security”. Why?
Hungry people and unemployed people when they feel they have NO other option will resort to violence in an attempt to satisfy their needs. What starts off as a protest on conditions and a government’s lack of interests can escalate into armed conflict and even a destructive civil war…..only need to look no further than Syria.
Food and water will be the next major obstacle to a peaceful world in the next decade……
The whole region, already arguably the least water-secure in the world, draws heavily on groundwater and desalinated sea water, and faces exceptional water-related challenges for the foreseeable future, says the WRI’s report: Ranking the World’s Most Water-Stressed Countries in 2040.
Water scarcity is one of the most urgent food security issues facing Near East and North Africa countries: fresh water availability in the region is expected to drop by 50% by year 2050.
Source: Is Climate Change drying out the Middle East even More? | Informed Comment
While the article focuses on Bahrain it will encompass the entire region very soon….
(Middle East map of Köppen climate classification; h/t Wikipedia)
“Within this century, parts of the Persian Gulf region could be hit with unprecedented events of deadly heat as a result of climate change, according to a study of high-resolution climate models,” a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research warned.
The research–titled “Persian Gulf could experience deadly heat”, reveals details of a business-as-usual scenario for greenhouse gas emissions, but also shows that curbing emissions could forestall these “deadly temperature extremes.”
Source: Will Climate change make the Middle East Uninhabitable? | Informed Comment
I realize that these days the major concern is that ISIS will make gains in the Middle East and possibly endanger the world as a whole…..but to ignore the effects of climate on the region could be more dangerous than we think. Not to mention more volatile.
(Please if you would like to comment at least read the articles and comment on their conclusions)
On a more positive note..
6 Cities That are Ready for Climate Change http://on.nrdc.org/1Vg99kX via @nrdc
In the mean time I have abilities to ‘morph’ …duck is one…camel is the other…grin
Quack…quack…..and this sounds ominously like the call to prayer….What sound does a camel make? https://youtu.be/F_itSnr6-QU via @YouTube
I am in ‘wicked’ mode….grin
Good post…
Glad you liked it….youtube is full of cool stuff, huh?
That one was for Sky Wanderer….where eva he is..?… he has to wander in this direction…oops.mistake..Ripening Wanderer…..hahaha hehehe.
Have you read Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads: A New History of the World? In his section on WWII (starting p.360) he argues that hunger prompted aggression and a lot of the atrocities committed by Germany (at least, that’s how I read it).
I have not….but I will now because I do like some historical perspectives….thanx for the suggestion and thanx for stopping by and commenting…please stop by as often as you can….chuq
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
Good post, especially for point upon which you put your finger with great precision, to wit: the governments of the world, and most of the general population, are focused on the trees, and do not see the desert encroaching on the forest.
You are absolutely correct; one of the most dangerous parts of the coming climate changes is exactly this; the changes can, (loss of drinkable water, earthquakes, melting ice caps) quite possibly, destroy the planet’s ecosystem from the bottom up. If the plankton dies off, (which it is, rapidly), this will, over time, spread to all land and sea creatures, as each animal type’s food supply dies off in succession. Second, the coming climate changes can conceivably turn into either an Ice Age, or, turn the entire planet into a desert, as the earth itself loses the bacterial and mineral components which encourage, and make possible, all plant life. Without plants, we are dead….
But. it seems, in people’s minds and estimation, to be more important to focus on cultural catastrophes, (politics, war. religious divisiveness, etc.), all of which we also have created ourselves….
Hate to be a cynic, but, Homo Suicidus has infested the planet; moreover, the Universe won’t care at all we won’t be around much longer, one way or another.
All of which is being ignored by the majority of humans alive….
gigoid, the dubious
It is already effecting the region….Syria has had a 3 year drought and without food the people decided to take matters in their hands and thus in the chaos ISIS is born….but as usual no one likes that explanation…..they had rather say these people are just looking for hand-outs…a simplistic excuse for simple minds….chuq
Quack ,quack..gigoid
I agree…though I am not a cynic…grin