I was always under the impression that anyone with anything to do with the European Union spent their time having long lunches and making attempts to find new ways to fiddle their expenses… it appears I was wrong.

EU foreign police chief Javier Solana and European commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner have apparently penned a report that may be of some use..!

The report says that “significant potential conflicts” are likely in years to come because of “intensified competition over access to, and control over, energy resources,” according to The Guardian.

It predicts that global warming will precipitate security issues for Europe, ranging from energy wars to mass migration, failed states and political radicalisation.

The report also stresses the volatility of the regions that hold large mineral deposits and predicts greater destabilisation in central Asia and the Middle East as a result of global warming.

Amongst other things, the report discussed tensions between Norway and Russia regarding fishing rights around the Spitsbergen archipelago… and the large deposits of gas and oil underneath its frozen wastes.

“If global warming were to allow this to become a viable source of energy, a serious conflict could emerge between Russia and Norway.”

A resource war has already begun…

In July last year, Russia announced it was sending a miniature submarine, equipped with a team of explorers, to claim a chunk of the Arctic Ocean the size of Western Europe.

Russian scientists claim an underwater ridge near the North Pole is really part of Russia’s continental shelf… However, the ridge stretches all the way to Canada, so she could use the same argument. What the Russians were doing is posturing… and testing the water for the future. Resource wars really are coming – and the Artic will be one of the hotspots.

Resource depletion and global warming will have a significant effect on a country’s carrying capacity.

Carrying capacity refers to the number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, and without degrading the natural social, cultural and economic environment for present and future generations. So, when the carrying capacity of a land mass falls due to, say, excessive water depletion, for example, rising populations can spell disaster… this is the situation we find ourselves in.

Of course, an area’s carrying capacity can be improved by, say technology, but it is mostly changed for the worse by pressures that come with a population increase. As the environment is degraded, carrying capacity shrinks. This leaves the environment no longer able to support even the number of people who could formerly have lived in the area on a sustainable basis.

This scenario will create a sense of desperation, which is likely to lead to offensive aggression against countries with a greater wealth of resources such as minerals, water or oil. The future could be very bleak indeed…

Regards,

Garry White

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