Global climate change just one of many factors complicating Darfur
Jacy Good '08 and Steve Epting '09
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Op/Ed
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To the Editor:
We are writing in response to Nadine Goldman's article, "A convenient excuse," published in last week's edition of The Weekly. Goldman wrote to The Weekly after she shockingly received an email from the Environmental Action Team (EnAcT) suggesting a correlation between climate change and the genocide in Darfur. We would like to begin by apologizing for any offense we may have caused Goldman or anyone else receiving the email. The email was written in an attempt to build bonds between EnAcT and other clubs so that we may work together for the greater good.
Without getting too political, we would like to offer a short explanation for our outreach to the Do It For Darfur club. Wars and genocides begin as a result of conflicts between different groups. The conflict in Darfur is over food, water, resource shortages and displaced people. Climate change has contributed to the shortage of these essential resources. The expansion of the Saharan Desert is a result of improper farming techniques and an increase in the amount of land drying up, thus demonstrating a concrete manifestation of climate change. When land becomes dry and uncultivable, people are forced to move to new, fertile areas in order to survive. This migration to already inhabited land has intensified the conflict in Darfur.
With this being said, we would like to refute Goldman's statement saying, "How could anyone suggest that a genocide that has been going on for three years, in which 400,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced, be the result of climate change?" We do not suggest that climate change is the single cause of the genocide by any means; however, we merely suggest that it is one of the many factors contributing to the problem.
To quote directly from the email Goldman received: "There are still plenty of issues critically entwined with the Darfur situation. The Darfur geno
cide has been partially caused and escalated as a result of climate change causing increased desertification, starvation and water shortages." Likewise, EnAcT is not trying to discount any of the genocides which have happened over history. We are not asserting that every genocide has been a result of climate change. In this particular situation, however, climate change is certainly playing a role.
We are writing in response to Nadine Goldman's article, "A convenient excuse," published in last week's edition of The Weekly. Goldman wrote to The Weekly after she shockingly received an email from the Environmental Action Team (EnAcT) suggesting a correlation between climate change and the genocide in Darfur. We would like to begin by apologizing for any offense we may have caused Goldman or anyone else receiving the email. The email was written in an attempt to build bonds between EnAcT and other clubs so that we may work together for the greater good.
Without getting too political, we would like to offer a short explanation for our outreach to the Do It For Darfur club. Wars and genocides begin as a result of conflicts between different groups. The conflict in Darfur is over food, water, resource shortages and displaced people. Climate change has contributed to the shortage of these essential resources. The expansion of the Saharan Desert is a result of improper farming techniques and an increase in the amount of land drying up, thus demonstrating a concrete manifestation of climate change. When land becomes dry and uncultivable, people are forced to move to new, fertile areas in order to survive. This migration to already inhabited land has intensified the conflict in Darfur.
With this being said, we would like to refute Goldman's statement saying, "How could anyone suggest that a genocide that has been going on for three years, in which 400,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced, be the result of climate change?" We do not suggest that climate change is the single cause of the genocide by any means; however, we merely suggest that it is one of the many factors contributing to the problem.
To quote directly from the email Goldman received: "There are still plenty of issues critically entwined with the Darfur situation. The Darfur geno
cide has been partially caused and escalated as a result of climate change causing increased desertification, starvation and water shortages." Likewise, EnAcT is not trying to discount any of the genocides which have happened over history. We are not asserting that every genocide has been a result of climate change. In this particular situation, however, climate change is certainly playing a role.