Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars but lasting for centuries unless the problem is controlled, a leading think tank has warned.
The Royal United Services Institute, based in the UK, said a tenfold increase in research spending, comparable to the amount spent on the Apollo space programme, will be needed if the world is to avoid the worst effects of changing temperatures.
However the group said the world’s response to the threats posed by climate change, such as rising sea levels and migration, had so far been “slow and inadequate,” because nations had failed to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
“We’re preparing for a car bomb, not for 9/11,” said Nick Mabey, author of the report, who said leading economies should be preparing for what would happen if climate change turned out to be running at the top of the temperature range scientists are predicting.
The report said: “If climate change is not slowed and critical environmental thresholds are exceeded, then it will become a primary driver of conflicts between and within states.”
You could argue that this is already happening, especially with increased food and water shortages..
Nice but incomplete article. It leaves one with a helpless attitude. A couple of hints to point the reader in the right direction would be appreciated, (not by the Editor, I’d venture say).
Seriously, get involved for real would be a good corollary. It’s the only world we’ve got.