TEAMHumanity

Millions 'could die from global warming by 2020'.

By Sabi Phagura

The Metro, UK - 23 February, 2004.

CLIMATE change in the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives, a leaked Pentagon report claims.

"The study, suppressed by US defence experts, predicts a combination of nuclear wars, droughts, famine and riots across the world."

The study, suppressed by US defence experts, predicts a combination of nuclear wars, droughts, famine and riots across the world. Cities will be engulfed by rising seas and Britain's weather will begin to resemble that of Siberia by 2020, it forecasts.

Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival rather than religion, ideology or national honour: 'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' warns the report, commissioned by Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall, who has held considerable sway in US military thinking for the past 30 years. Climate change should be elevated beyond scientific debate to a national security concern, said report authors Peter Schwartz, a CIA consultant, and Doug Randall, of the Global Business Network in California.

They believe that, as early as next year, widespread floods caused by rising sea levels will create upheaval for millions of people.

'It is unique because there is no enemy to point your guns at and we have no control over the threat,' said Mr Randall. 'We don't know where we are in the process. It could start tomorrow and we would not know for another five years.'

The findings are a setback for George Bush, who has repeatedly denied that climate change exists. Jeremy Symons, a former whistle­blower at the US Environmental Protection Agency, said the fact the report was kept under wraps was a further example of the White House trying to bury the threat of climate change.

 

KEY FINDINGS

2007: Violent storms will smash coastal barriers, rendering some parts of the Netherlands uninhabitable. Cities such as The Hague could be abandoned. Deaths from war and famine could run into millions. 2010 - 2020: Europe is hit by climate change as average temperatures drop by 6 degrees fahrenheit. Britain becomes colder and drier. Access to water becomes a major battleground. The Nile, Danube and Amazon are all at high risk. Rich areas such as Europe and the US will become virtual fortresses to prevent millions of migrants from entering after they are forced from their homes by rising sea levels. There will be a significant fall in the planet's ability to sustain life within the next 20 years. Riots and internal conflict could tear apart India and Indonesia. Droughts could affect the world's major sources of food. More than 400 million people living in subtropical regions will be at risk. Future wars will be fought over the issue of survival rather than religion, ideology or national honour.