U.N. Head Links Climate Change, Darfur
In the UK The Guardian is reporting U.N. Head Links Climate Change, Darfur.
Rainfall in Sudan began declining two decades ago, a phenomenon due “to some degree, from man-made global warming,” said Ban [UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon], who has made both Darfur and climate change priorities.
Settled farmers and Arab nomadic herders had gotten along until the drought, he wrote, but as conditions worsened, water and food shortages disrupted the peace and “evolved into the full-fledged tragedy we witness today.”
Ban said similar ecological problems are behind conflicts in other countries, including Somalia and Ivory Coast.
Our climate is changing, of that there is no longer any doubt. How we respond to that change is the great moral dilemma of our age. We, all of us, have to act swiftly and decisively to mitigate against the effects of the damage already done, and reduce further damage. Every delay will cost lives and considerably more money than action right now. Global warming is everyone’s responsibility and it’s all of our responsibility to look at our own actions and understand how they contribute to the problem. Is that short car trip worth the life of someone in a far-flung poor country? Is that flight really necessary and if it is then do you stand up for yourself and offset the travel you undertake? Being responsible isn’t hard these days and there is no excuse for inaction. It’s truly time, to paraphrase the words of Gandhi, to be the change we we want to see in the world. — DS
Technorati Tags: climate change, drought, global warming, politics, Darfur