Global Warming

Climate of War

Global heating has already had a small influence in sparking civil wars and other armed conflicts, and is poised to play a greater role as temperatures warm even further this century, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.

While there is intense disagreement over how much of a role climate plays in triggering war and related violence, the study estimates that it has already influenced between 3% and 20% of such conflicts during the past century.

But the new study states clearly that factors such as socioeconomic inequalities, weak governments and history of other violent conflicts have much stronger influences in triggering clashes.

Arctic Heat and Melt

Freak summertime heat across parts of the Arctic in recent weeks has caused temperatures to soar 40 degrees F above normal and resulted in an unprecedented early melt of Greenland’s vast ice sheet.

Arctic sea ice coverage was also at its lowest on record for mid-June.

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists say they have found permafrost in the Canadian Arctic is thawing 70 years earlier than predicted by computer models in yet another troubling sign that the global climate crisis is unfolding more quickly than expected.

The Arctic heat is linked to numerous outbreaks of violent storms far to the south in North America and Europe this spring as the jet stream buckled and undulated due to the northern heat.

“The jet stream this week was one of the craziest I’ve ever seen,” said Jennifer Francis, a leading researcher who has published studies linking Arctic warming to middle latitude weather.