Climate change link to war remains tenuous

Special Issue: Climate change and conflict

From Journal of Peace Research      

Does climate change sow the seeds of war? Until recently, most answers to this political question have been based on speculation. This landmark issue investigates a host of potential causes for conflict. Many other factors have a far greater influence than climate change on peace and stability, most of the studies conclude. On balance, the authors only find limited support for an influence of climate change on armed conflict. But this does not eliminate the possibility that when climate issues are framed as a security problem, this may influence actor perception and contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the largest collection of peer-reviewed writings on the topic to date, the authors employ systematic climate data and climate projections. Most of the articles deal with civil war, a few with international war, and several studies go beyond state-based conflict to look at possible implications for communal conflict and other kinds of violence.

Table of contents for this issue – free access to whole issue for a limited period

Permanent free access to the introduction
Gleditsch, N. (2012). Whither the weather? Climate change and conflict Journal of Peace Research, 49 (1), 3-9 DOI: 10.1177/0022343311431288

Articles include:

• The publics’ concern for global warming: A cross-national study of 47 countries
• African range wars: Climate, conflict, and property rights by
• Climate change, rainfall, and social conflict in Africa
• Come rain or shine: An analysis of conflict and climate variability in East Africa
• Climate change, violent conflict and local institutions in Kenya’s drylands
• Climate clashes? Weather variability, land pressure, and organized violence in Kenya, 1989–2004
• Does climate change drive land-use conflicts in the Sahel?
• Climate variability, economic growth, and civil conflict
• Civil war, climate change and development: A scenario study for Sub-saharan Africa
• Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict
• Don’t blame the weather! Climate-related natural disasters and civil conflict
• Could climate change cause peace?
• Climate change and the institutional resilience of international river basins
• Weathering climate change: Can institutions mitigate international water conflict?
• Climate change and international water conflict in central Asia
• Climate change and security in the Israeli-Palestinian context

Tags: armed conflict, civil conflict, Climate change, global warming, natural disasters, Security, war