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> those things may be related. I can't tell if this is parody or not. Of course they're not related. The "civil war in Syria" is a regional power proxy war and

> those things may be related. I can't tell if this is parody or not. Of course they're not related. The "civil war in Syria" is a regional power proxy war and has nothing to do with climate or "the price of bread."

mikeyouse 7y ago
Of course conflict has many causes, the corruption and long standing sectarian rifts are clearly foremost on the list but there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related impacts: https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/news/2015/3/150302-syria-war-climate-change-drought https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/pr... > The authors acknowledge that many factors led to Syria's uprising, including corrupt leadership, inequality, massive population growth, and the government's inability to curb human suffering. > But their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, compiled statistics showing that water shortages in the Fertile Crescent in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey killed livestock, drove up food prices, sickened children, and forced 1.5 million rural residents to the outskirts of Syria's jam-packed cities—just as that country was exploding with immigrants from the Iraq war.
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  > ... there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related ... No, there really isn't, and if PNAS is making such claims, they should be derided. The authors should also be closely examined for why they might be making such preposterous claims; they may belong to governments or groups which ... actually caused the conflict in Syria. Such assertions are transparent propaganda which should be laughed to scorn by any numerate person.
  - Udik 7y ago
    Agreed, and yet here we are. People flood the streets to campaign against climate change and when a deranged president in the White House brings the world on the edge of a new major war everybody keep their mouths shut. Most of the climate change discourse is nothing but a huge distraction from the real issues of the world.
    - cloverich 7y ago
      Climate change affects everyone and has a straight forward fix (elect people who care). Raising awareness is, in effect, all that is necessary from the people. Syria is far more complicated and most people don't even know who the main factions are, or who is fighting them. Or how to stop it. Or why it started. Etc.
      - Udik 7y ago
        > has a straight forward fix How can you be so simplistic? CO2 is a byproduct of basically everything we do. We can change that but it's not at all straightforward, quick or painless. > Syria is far more complicated Of climate science? Come on... Climate change seems to be the only issue that has any activism left: and it sure the powerful think it's a great outlet for people's desire for change. One huge issue that explains everything that is going badly in the world, while being so far removed from actual events and the responsibilities involved as to leave political actors entirely free- except from getting a bit of flak from a sixteen year old now and then.
- Udik 7y ago
  > there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related impacts: There's a "plausible case" that many deaths of frail elderly people are caused by common ailments such as cold or flu. So what do you think is killing people, the fact of being extremely old and frail or the flu? We're trying to reduce everything to a single common cause, vague and global, when there are precise responsibilities and much more direct actions we could take. We're all with Greta Thunberg when she campaigns about the future risks of climate change, and when the US (with the silent complicity of the EU) brought the world on the brink of a new major ME war, with the potential for millions of deaths, nobody said a damn thing. I find it disgusting.

mikeyouse 7y ago

Of course conflict has many causes, the corruption and long standing sectarian rifts are clearly foremost on the list but there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related impacts: https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/news/2015/3/150302-syria-war-climate-change-drought https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/pr... > The authors acknowledge that many factors led to Syria's uprising, including corrupt leadership, inequality, massive population growth, and the government's inability to curb human suffering. > But their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, compiled statistics showing that water shortages in the Fertile Crescent in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey killed livestock, drove up food prices, sickened children, and forced 1.5 million rural residents to the outskirts of Syria's jam-packed cities—just as that country was exploding with immigrants from the Iraq war.

scottlocklin 7y ago
> ... there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related ... No, there really isn't, and if PNAS is making such claims, they should be derided. The authors should also be closely examined for why they might be making such preposterous claims; they may belong to governments or groups which ... actually caused the conflict in Syria. Such assertions are transparent propaganda which should be laughed to scorn by any numerate person.
- Udik 7y ago
  Agreed, and yet here we are. People flood the streets to campaign against climate change and when a deranged president in the White House brings the world on the edge of a new major war everybody keep their mouths shut. Most of the climate change discourse is nothing but a huge distraction from the real issues of the world.
  - cloverich 7y ago
    Climate change affects everyone and has a straight forward fix (elect people who care). Raising awareness is, in effect, all that is necessary from the people. Syria is far more complicated and most people don't even know who the main factions are, or who is fighting them. Or how to stop it. Or why it started. Etc.
    - Udik 7y ago
      > has a straight forward fix How can you be so simplistic? CO2 is a byproduct of basically everything we do. We can change that but it's not at all straightforward, quick or painless. > Syria is far more complicated Of climate science? Come on... Climate change seems to be the only issue that has any activism left: and it sure the powerful think it's a great outlet for people's desire for change. One huge issue that explains everything that is going badly in the world, while being so far removed from actual events and the responsibilities involved as to leave political actors entirely free- except from getting a bit of flak from a sixteen year old now and then.
Udik 7y ago
> there’s a plausible case that a portion of the blame for the war is due to climate related impacts: There's a "plausible case" that many deaths of frail elderly people are caused by common ailments such as cold or flu. So what do you think is killing people, the fact of being extremely old and frail or the flu? We're trying to reduce everything to a single common cause, vague and global, when there are precise responsibilities and much more direct actions we could take. We're all with Greta Thunberg when she campaigns about the future risks of climate change, and when the US (with the silent complicity of the EU) brought the world on the brink of a new major ME war, with the potential for millions of deaths, nobody said a damn thing. I find it disgusting.