Page 85 - The World About Us

Darfur river
1.1.1
1.1.1
2.3.3
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Is Darfur the world’s first climate change war?

Far away from the rising waters of
the Pacific, another climate change story
con nues to unfold. The Darfur region
of south-western Sudan is twice the
size of the United Kingdom but is home
to one tenth of the UK's popula on.
Of the 6.2 million people in Darfur,
almost half have been displaced by a
conflict which erupted in 2004 and had,
by 2016, cost as many as 400,000 lives.
Of the 4.7 million people affected by the
conflict, over half have been children
who have grown up in a war zone.
Darfur lies in a region of Africa
known as the Sahel. This region, which
stretches 5,400 km from the Atlan c
coast of Mauritania to the Red Sea coast Fig.223 Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Darfur, Sudan, 2005.
of Eritrea, marks the southern border of
the Sahara Desert. goats and camels on the hillsides. genesis of the Darfur conflict is hard to
pinpoint amid other factors, including
The climate is defined by a long and There was li le dis nc on between pressures from a growing popula on,
hot dry season followed by a short and Arab and African as both groups were poor governance and regional military
intense rainy season which lasts from predominantly Muslim. “There was never interven on.
June to September. Two thirds of Darfur's any big problem between the livestock
meagre 400mm of annual rain falls during herders and the people living in the However, the former UN secretary-
thunderstorms in July and August. village,” Darfur refugee Yacoub Adam general, Ban Ki-moon, argued, “Almost
Omar told a Guardian reporter in 2007. invariably, we discuss Darfur in convenient
The Darfur war is a complex mix of military and poli cal shorthand - an
social, poli cal and regional conflicts, but What changed was a deep and ethnic conflict pi ng Arab mili as against
many say that, at its heart, is a changing prolonged famine in the 1980s, which black rebels and farmers. Look to its roots,
climate. And the climate is not changing killed over a million people and laid waste though, and you discover a more complex
for the be er. to the herds of the pastoralists. These
nomadic herders were forced to find dynamic. Amid the diverse social and
Rainfall has been declining in the remaining pastures, o en on the alluvial poli cal causes, the Darfur conflict began
Sahel for much of the last 50 years. Life soils in the river valleys, or forgo their as an ecological crisis, arising at least in
was never easy in Darfur, but un l the herds altogether and try their hands at part from climate change.”
1980s the local people lived in rela ve farming.
peace. Tribes of an African ethnicity
tended to farm the river valleys, while Either way they began to come into
those of Arab descent tended to be conflict with the exis ng farmers, 1. What is meant by
pastoral farmers, grazing their herds of especially the main tribal group the Fur,
(Darfur means 'Land of the Fur') who the 'greenhouse effect'? (2)
were long established in the river valleys. 2. What is a greenhouse gas? (2)
Conflicts broke out as different ethnic 3. Describe the poten al social and
groups armed and defended themselves. economic impact of further climate
change. (6)
The outbreak of full-scale war in 2004
Libya Egypt was precipitated by demands by Darfur 4. Describe the environmental impact of
for greater autonomy from the central climate change. (4)
DARFUR arming and funding an Arab mili a known minimum of three con nents. (6)
Chad SUDAN Sudanese government. The government 5. With reference to examples describe
in Khartoum responded with violence,
the impact of climate change across a
as the Janjaweed. Many of these fighters 6. “Climate change is a global issue with
South Ethiopia were former livestock farmers who had far reaching consequences.” Discuss this
C.A.R. Sudan lost their tradi onal way of life. The statement. (12)
conflict was deepened when
D.R.C. neighbouring Libya and Chad became 7. Outline the threats from, and responses
involved for their own regional concerns. to, climate change in Tuvalu. (6)
8. Outline why some people suggest that
The exact role of climate change in the climate change is a key cause of the war
fig.224 Sudan and the Darfur region. in Darfur. (4)

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Climate change has consequences.