Games Of Thirst: Looming Water Wars In Central Asia Highlight Climate Change

We all knew that climate change was going to have dire consequences, including natural disasters such as rising sea levels and extreme weather events. We may have also heard the term 'climate refugee', and have the impression that changing climate will make parts of the planet uninhabitable, displacing hundreds of millions of people. And we may also be aware that all these effects combined could give way to wars.

One of the most violent and infamous recent wars is in Syria. It's impossible to be certain whether or not the drought that impoverished the region for years helped spark the conflict. The complex politics, delicate power balance, key geopolitical position, intricate cultural issues and economic importance of the Middle East make it difficult to isolate the exact reasons for war.

One must study these processes in a simpler economic, political and cultural environment. That's exactly what freelancer John Wendle has done in this excellent piece for Nautilus. The reporter took to the border between Kyrgizstan and Uzbekistan to report from where the glaciers that irrigated the fertile lands of the Fergana Valley are shrinking.

The scene he describes isn't surprising: increasing ethnic violence, scarcity, fear and resentment. The piece is reasonably long, but not so much that you can't take it in one go. The images are excellent, and the research is extensive.

The article is both outstanding and important. It's not that the same things may happen elsewhere (including in the so-called West), it's that they may already be in place.