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Isabella Lippman
Choose one conflict and learn more about it.
Mr. Tierney Explain the conflict in your own words, some
potential global consequences related to the
AP World History conflict, and finally offer a potential solution or
a way to calm the conflict.
05/24/21

The Climate Change War

As global temperatures rise and climate variations increase worldwide, conflict is

increasing as a result. While most people do not associate a reason for war or conflict

with global climate change, there is some correlation between the two. Although climate

change doesn’t directly lead to conflict, it does cause tensions between groups as

resources are diminished and rids societies of some economic, environmental and

societal factors (“Seven Things”). Climate change conflict can be defined by climate

variations leading to competition between groups for resources, causes global

consequences like rising temperatures and food insecurity, and can be solved with the

help of the United Nations in combating climate change and global warming.

Climate change being named as one of the top 10 conflicts to watch in 2021 is a

sign that it is really starting to get bad. The fight and competition for resources is

increasing dramatically as climate change slowly strips the Earth of the resources we

need to survive. For example, in Northern Nigeria the intense droughts have led to

conflict between herders and farmers as resources decrease, ending up killing twice as

many people in 2019 as the Boko Haram conflict (Malley). To gain some perspective,

the Boko Haram conflict killed around 150 people which means the climate-induced

conflict killed around 300 people just in one year (“Number”). Desertification,
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deforestation, rising temperatures and moisture loss all lead to climate changes that

affect the amount of resources available in different societies and environments. With

decreasing amounts of resources like arable land, water, fertile soil, etc. there will be

more competition as industries that rely on those resources have to fight others for the

amount left over. While competition doesn’t always lead to fighting and conflict, many

times it does and as climate change gets worse over the years, the conflict is bound to

increase as well.

The consequences of climate change on its own are very lethal to mankind and

our planet and with the addition of conflict, the consequences really are detrimental. As

global warming increases with it goes food insecurity as resources decrease and the

population grows. Studies have shown that a rise in local temperature of 0.5 degrees

Celsius is associated, on average, with a 10% to 20% heightened risk of deadly conflict

(Malley). With increasing temperatures, the abundance of raw materials and natural

resources starts to decline and some even become very limited. An increase in global

warming will lead to disastrous effects on our planet including rising temperatures,

changes in precipitation patterns, more frequent droughts, stronger hurricanes, rising

sea levels, and melting ice (“The Effects”). All of these will affect you no matter what

age, gender, race, religion, and location on the Earth, as all of these impact the globe

not just one specific area. Regarding food insecurity, this problem is rooted with

increasing temperatures and global climate change affecting resources and agriculture.

A recent study of global vegetable production states that if greenhouse gas emissions

continue to rise and stay on their current path, yield could fall by 35% by 2100 (Cho). As

our human population continues to rise, there will be more and more mouths to feed
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and if our climate continues to change at the rate it is now, there won’t be enough food

production to provide enough food to everyone. Already at our current population and

climate status there is hunger everywhere with around 690 million people going to bed

hungry (Reid). Climate change will continue to raise those numbers and cause

unnecessary conflicts worldwide unless we take measures to slow climate change and

make a difference to help the future of our world.

A possible solution would involve working collaboratively with everyone in a

positive way only to better our planet and the future for the next generations so they

don’t have to grow up hungry and involved in conflicts regarding loss of resources. A

suggestion would be to involve the United Nations in creating solutions focused on

trying to slow down growing temperatures and provide ways to protect arable land and

prevent food insecurity. One of these possible solutions could be to restrict humans

from destroying forests, focusing on protecting arable land and another solution could

be to provide a vegetative cover for agricultural lands to protect the lands from

desertification. However, currently, the United Nations has put climate change as one of

its top priorities and western governments and companies have pledged to provide

poorer countries $100 billion annually for climate adaptation starting in 2020 (Malley).

There are many possible solutions to this growing global issue and we can make a

difference now, before it is too late to fix our beautiful planet.

Climate change is an issue that many talk about, but not every individual does

their best to make a difference and try to fix what global warming has started to destroy.

As it affects such a wide range of individuals and countries, there needs to be an

international solution put into action against it. Climate change-induced conflicts are
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caused by tensions due to a loss of resources, globally impact others by increasing

global warming and attributing to food insecurity, but a solution can be found with the

help of the United Nations in reducing land degradation, hunger, and focusing on

climate change as a whole.

Works Cited

Cho, Renee. “How Climate Change will Alter Our Food.” Columbia Climate School, 25 July

2018, news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/07/25/climate-change-food-agriculture/.

Accessed 24 May 2021.

“The Effects of Climate Change.” NASA Global Climate Change, climate.nasa.gov/effects/.

Accessed 24 May 2021.

Malley, Robert. “10 Conflicts to Watch in 2021.” International Crisis Group, 30 Dec 2020,

www.crisisgroup.org/global/10-conflicts-watch-2021. Accessed 24 May 2021.

“Number of terror-related deaths caused by Boko Haram attacks on military targets in Nigeria in

2018 and 2019.” Statista, Nov 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/1197732/deaths-from-

boko-haram-attacks-on-military-targets-in-nigeria/. Accessed 24 May 2021.

Reid, Kathryn. “5 World Hunger Facts You Need to Know.” World Vision, 29 Oct 2020,

www.worldvision.org/hunger-news-stories/world-hunger-facts. Accessed 24 May 2021.

“Seven Things You Need to Know About Climate Change and Conflict.” International

Committee of the Red Cross, 9 July 2020, www.icrc.org/en/document/climate-change-

and-conflict. Accessed 24 May 2021.