The madness of Jack Hamilton: He argues that carbon dioxide is "one of the chief catalysts" in Nigeria's ongoing ethno-religious violence

Climate change underlies growing violence in Nigeria

Last week a ten year old boy was killed after a rocket was fired at a school in the Nigerian city of Jos.

Over one hundred more people have been killed in the past two weeks amid the ongoing ethno-religious violence in across Plateau State, of which Jos is the capital.

Responses and accusations have abounded over the political and cultural reasons for the violence but little attention is being paid to one of the chief catalysts behind the conflict: climate change.

Climate change is a driver of conflict. Scarcity of resources, be they farmable land, water or livestock, is creating mass migrations and antagonising pre-existing tensions in a vicious circle.
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Climate change threatens the ability of West Africa to compete in the global food system. An increase in temperature will undoubtedly reduce yields in a region where the population is set to double within the next two decades. Some projections claim that crop production will drop by 50% within the same timeframe as this population boom.
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Jack Hamilton is is a journalist and researcher based in Washington, D.C. and London.