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Currents
April 2019
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few of those lawsuits. “It also takes away a lot of the
oil industry argument that this science is still nascent,
and that no one is really certain there will be all of
these impacts.”
“A ruined planet cannot sustain human lives in
good health. A healthy planet and healthy people are
two sides of the same coin.” – Dr. Margaret Chan,
Executive Director of the World Health Organization
“Widespread scientific consensus exists that the
world’s climate is changing. Some of these changes
will likely include more variable weather, heat waves,
heavy precipitation events, flooding, droughts, more
intense storms, sea level rise, and air pollution. Each
of these impacts could negatively affect public
health.” – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Resource Wars
Sun., Apr. 21, 2019
As long ago as 2003, a report prepared for the US
Department of Defense warned that global climate
change is more likely to result in sudden, cataclysmic
environmental events than a gradual and manage-
able rise in average temperatures.
Such events, the report said, could include a sub-
stantial increase in global sea levels, intense storms
and hurricanes, and continent-wide “dustbowl”
effects, which could lead to wars for access to food,
water, habitable land and energy supplies.
“Violence and disruption stemming from the
stresses created by abrupt changes in the climate
pose a different type of threat to national security
than we are accustomed to today,” the report said.
Ashdown foresees a direct and controversial role
for military forces in the near future − not simply in
fighting these wars, but also in controlling refugee
flows.
Asked whether he thought the UK’s armed forces
would be ordered to defend the country’s borders, or
to stop refugees leaving their countries of origin, or
simply to play a humanitarian role, he replied: “All of
those.”
He went on: “The idea of Open Europe is now
under threat. We have to discuss how we can man-
age the future. Can you imagine what is going to
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