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Why is Darfur in the news? Darfur–loosely translated as land of the Fur, the dominant tribe in this western region of Sudan– has been the scene of another ethnic cleansing in Africa reminiscent of the Rwandan Genocide. This time, it’s the Sudan government and a nomadic arab tribe, the Janjaweed, against a ragtag collection of rebel groups from three ethnic tribes in the Darfur region.
Darfur is not a religious conflict, the battle lines were drawn across ethnicity. But is it really about a group of people unable to accept the color and creed of another? The Janjaweed and the Furs have existed peacefully in symbiosis for centuries. What really is behind the Darfur killings aside from the Sudan government using the Jajanweed to eliminate a threat to their regime?
Previously, we made a post on the 10 effects of global warming. Number 10 on the list is the threat on global security brought about by competition for dwindling resources. During one of our web wandering moments, we stumbled into this report titled The Real Roots of Darfur. It tells the story of Alex de Waal, an anthropologist who studied the social impact of the drought gripping the Darfur region even before the war broke out, and an old Arab sheik.
The old, bed ridden Arab said he feared the future because “the way the world was set-up since time immemorial was being disturbed and it was bewildering, repressing, and the consequences were terrible.” And that was back in the mid-80’s. The old timer has never been out of his beloved desert and he doesn’t know, nor care, about things like greenhouse gases, global warming, and climate change.
His fears were based simply on the following observations in his twilight years:
1. Sand blew into fertile lands.
2. The ever rarer rains washed away the remaining fertile soil.
3. Farmers who once welcomed his tribe and their camels are now blocking their migration because the land could no longer support both people.
4. Many of his tribesmen has already lost their stock and scratched at millet farming on marginal plots, often the last resort for survival by a proud Arab people.
Now, the terrible consequences the wise sheik spoke of is happening. His fears were brought into reality by a person close to his heart, Musa Hilal, his son and leader of the Jajanweed.
Originally, the environment’s degradation and the subsequent sufferings were blamed on the region’s inhabitants until scientists pinpointed another: global warming…
But by the time of the Darfur conflict four years ago, scientists had identified another cause. Climate scientists fed historical sea-surface temperatures into a variety of computer models of atmospheric change. Given the particular pattern of ocean-temperature changes worldwide, the models strongly predicted a disruption in African monsoons. “This was not caused by people cutting trees or overgrazing,” says Columbia University’s Alessandra Giannini, who led one of the analyses. The roots of the drying of Darfur, she and her colleagues had found, lay in changes to the global climate.
Are the events in Darfur a glimpse of what will happen in the future on a grander scale once disruptions caused by climate change makes unavailable the natural resources we are enjoying today? Will our generation or those coming after us be able to answer that question in the affirmative?
Looks like not only these 7 artic species are threatened by Global Warming, even Homo sapiens sapiens is at risk, especially those living in and around the Sahara, as detailed in this article entitled How to Prevent the Next Darfur by Time. This book by Stephen Faris, called Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change
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13 comments ↓
While I certainly agree that drought conditions, and the resulting lack of food, is helping to fuel the tragedy in Darfur, it cannot be denied that the conflict has come down to nothing more than an ethnic cleansing by a tribe that had lived “in symbiosis” with another tribe. Whatever caused the slaughter, the response is NOT acceptable behavior for anyone who claims the title “human”.
Excellent post. I agree, shortage of food and clean water due to global warming is a major reason for the conflict and will be the cause of many future conflicts in Africa and other countries.
Hi!
@ Mike
That’s what I’m afraid of. If our future, children, and way of life will be threatened, will enlightened humans still think and act rationally?
Acceptable behavior is subjective. Even in one culture, it can change across time.
@ Jackie
True but I wasn’t really expecting for it to happen too soon. Even in Rwanda, some social scientists say it was caused by too many people living off too little resources.
I remember that movie The Day After Tomorrow where Americans migrated en masse to Mexico where they were “welcomed” like old friends. Cute premise.
What if Mexico refuses to share their limited resources? Will Americans resort to the use of force for their “survival.”
I know it’s just a movie but the point is, Global Warming will shrink available resources and nature will “force” a balance between supply and demand.
Thank you. Nice comments.
If it is, we are just at the beginning…
Hi! Interesting post!
btw, I invite you to read this article about the issue - “The New Wars of Climate Change”
here:
http://mokkikunta.blogspot.com.....hange.html
or here:
http://www.ovimagazine.com/art/2530
Cheers!:)
@ Gatto and Mokki
Nice of you to drop by.
So even the UN recognizes the part of climate change in Darfur. Bit the case of Malawi says there is hope…
Darfur may well be the first war influenced by climate change.
Yup, I hope it’s the last one too. Although that’s unlikely.
Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn’t exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth.
Hello…
Thanks for the comment.
We’re not really that different because I am also wary of everything scientists, politicians , and businessmen are telling us about global warming.
But there is global warming. It’s nothing new, it has occurred in the past too. The only thing people can’t agree on is what is causing it and why are the signs seems to be happening mostly in the past decades.
Even if there is no Global Warming what’s wrong with planting trees and moving on to sustainable energy resources? Do we really want our children to breathe all those fumes? Do we want them to exist on artery-clogging and kidney-destroying fastfood?
the cause is the cinism
italy30s last blog post..Immigrazione, Gad Lerner: "Un giorno qualcuno dovrà vergognarsi"
Although that is not worrying as it should be because the world is going wild in near future. I can see crises, drought, and such conditions everywhere in this world. There are floods(Even in those areas where it was not expected), droughts, storms, and wars.
There’s a “secret” WOrld Banl report that says 100 million the world over were driven below the poverty line due to rising food prices the past few months and there’s been riots.
If the trend continues, maybe what you’re thinking won’t be far off.
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