Climate Change: Recipe for War: Remove Water and Food, Add Ethnic Strife—Then Stir

Jul 26, 2016 | Eric Roston, Bloomberg
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The question is no longer just whether climate change will kill us, but also whether climate change will make us kill each other. Almost 25 percent of armed conflicts in ethnically divided countries occur around the same time as climate-related disasters. This is the main take-away of a new study by researchers that adds crucial data to a debate that's been simmering for several years: Is there evidence that ties war and civil unrest to the changing climate? Another finding directly applies to this and humanity's key climate change choke points: food and water. Over the three decades ending in 2010, 9 percent of wars took place in the wake of heat waves or droughts.