Global warming is not just an environmental issue. Officials from the United Nations recently said that the state of the world's climate is creating an "unholy brew" that could lead to insecurity and threaten any world peace philosophy that may have begun to develop.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the United Nations Security Council that extreme weather events could lead to much destruction both in wealthy and poor nations and that this could damage security apparatuses, potentially leading to conflict, according to the Herald Sun.
"Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, not only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions and budgets – an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums," he said, according to the news source. "Not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security."
Ban was speaking before the Security Council urging member nations to pass legislation that would seek to reduce global warming. However, the body failed to act on the motion, a move that representatives from the U.S. called "pathetic."
The world is already beginning to see the effects of global warming. Severe weather including tornados and powerful thunder storms ripped through much of the U.S. this spring. Meanwhile extreme droughts rage in Russia and parts of Africa, while flooding drowned much of Pakistan in the spring.
These types of events have the potential to cause conflict between nations as they struggle for an ever decreasing share of safe and reliable natural resources. However, peace philosophy blog writer Ilchi Lee says that countries around the world can guarantee the safety of their citizens by working together to solve these problems.
