Climate change could lead to terrorism, security experts warn

Irony alert: as President Bush dwells on terrorism while barely acknowledging climate change, it turns out that climate change may lead to terrorism. The consequences of global warming could aggravate the already-ridiculous divide between the haves and have-nots, put 30 million people at risk of famine and disease, and create eco-refugees with a propensity for radical action, said experts attending a climate-change and security conference in London. “Those who are short of food, those who are short of water, those who can’t move to countries where it looks as if everything is marvelous are going to be people who are going to adopt desperate measures to try and make their point,” says former British U.N. Ambassador Sir Crispin Tickell, whose name knows no equal. Consider: the role of drought and scarce resources in the escalating violence in Rwanda and Darfur, and a 2002 “letter to the American people” in which Osama bin Laden villainized the U.S. for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Gulp.