Researchers released on March 2, Monday, a statement about the continuous conflict in Syria and linked that global warming and drought contributed to this uprising that has taken thousands of lives.
According to the research as per report of NY Times, the extreme drought in Syria from 2006 to 2009 was due to climate change and it is linked to the war that began in 2011. The scientists, who published their work in "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", said that the dry and warm conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean caused the violence in the area.
The lead author of the study, Colin P. Kelley, shares that although Syria was known for normally being subjected to dry periods, the cause from 2006 to 2009 was more drastic due to the increasing aridity in the region. Due to this, the drought had a "catalytic effect" leading to the uprising.
The study explains that due to the extreme dryness in the area, the Syrian government had to migrate as many as 1.5 million people from the rural to the urban areas. This then turned into a social stress and resulted to rebels rising against President Bashar al-Assad. This is not the first time researchers linked the violence in Syria with global warming but the study is the best compilation of findings ever published according to critics.
In another report on the study by The Guardian, the drought caused unsustainable agricultural policies and wrong usage of water thus the collapse of the way of living in the areas affected by drought. The failure of the administration of al-Assad and being unable to propose an effective solution caused people to take matters into their own hands in order to survive unemployment, inequality and corruption.
The United States military also talked about climate change being a factor in multiplying violence and threat because it causes great instability to many parts of the country.