Movement for the Abolition of War

When the weather warms up, the risk of conflict doubles. This is the startling conclusion to a study done by climate scientists at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, news of which was released on 24 August 2011. Correlating the records of past wars in those countries affected by El Niño, the study shows a clear link between those years when El Niño was active and the breakout of civil wars.

"Researchers in and out of the military say that the particles are smaller and easier to inhale than most dust particles and that recent droughts in the region have killed desert shrubs that helped keep down that dust. The military's heavy vehicles have pounded the desert's protective crust into a layer of fine silt, Lyles says. Service members breathe the dust - and all it carries - deeply into their lungs."

"From 1961 to 1970 more than 20,000 missions that composed Operations “Trail Dust” and “Ranch Hand” dispersed about 13 million gallons of chemicals over five million acres of Vietnam's forests and agricultural lands; southern Laos and Cambodia were sprayed too."

"The lawsuits reveal that the Pentagon has ignored American and international environmental laws and the results appear to be the widespread release of hazardous pollutants into the air, soil, surface water and groundwater across Afghanistan."