The Pentagon prepares for climate war

"There is a president who maintains that global warming is nonsense, and on the other side there is the Pentagon preparing for climate war. It is terrible that the president ignores his own government on this issue." Rob Gueterbock, of Greenpeace, puts his finger on a burning problem.

A report by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, classified but uncovered and published by The Observer, states that climate change could lead to millions of deaths worldwide through conflict, poverty and catastrophic events: an imminent scenario of climate change is "plausible and could jeopardise the security of the United States in a way that must be considered immediately".

Is there a link between wars and global warming?

At the end of January, a similar warning was issued by Steve Lonergan, director of the Early Warning and Risk Assessment section of UNEP (the UN Environment Programme). A worldwide study into the link between environment and war has been launched. Pollution, floods, storms, desertification and rising sea levels — the greenhouse effect — trigger conflicts between human groups competing for increasingly scarce resources. "With climate change," Lonergan had stated, "we expect ever more extreme events. Global warming will cause instability worldwide, forcing populations to migrate to other areas, causing tensions and conflicts."

"Even today, water scarcity is an underlying cause of conflict between Syria and Israel, and between Israel and the Palestinians. And environmental problems are factors of political friction in many nations, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti."

Climate change will lead to mass extinction

These are problems that do not concern humanity alone. A quarter of all plant and animal species on Earth are at risk, according to the study published in Nature in January. From Australian butterflies to Spanish eagles, more than one million species face extinction, according to Chris Thomas, professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Leeds. He is the author of what is the largest study of its kind carried out worldwide, conducted on more than one thousand species across South Africa, Brazil, Europe, Australia, Mexico and Costa Rica, with projections up to 2050. Temperatures could rise to levels never recorded in 30 million years by the end of the century. The conclusion: "Climate change is the greatest new risk of mass extinction."

Here is the greatest global paradox

While the Pentagon, through a classified dossier, the UN and scientists warn that risks are increasing for everyone, many governments are scaling back their environmental commitments. The USA is blocking the Kyoto Protocol and all emissions-reduction policies, Russia is wavering and polluting, and in Italy, as in other European countries, there is a recorded increase of millions of tonnes of CO2 produced by industry and transport.

"Paradoxical" (from the Devoto-Oli): "in apparent or real contrast with the common way of thinking or with the most elementary norms of common sense, and therefore unacceptable on a logical, practical and moral level."