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Nuclear weapons and global warming stand out as two principal threats to the survival of humanity. In each of these existential cases, two strategies born during the Cold War years are competing: abandon the respective systems, or defend against the consequences, once the harmful effects produced by those systems occur. The first approach to the nuclear and climate threat focuses on arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament and on greenhouse gas emission reductions and mitigation. The second approach involves active defense: in the nuclear realm, missile defenses against nuclear-armed delivery systems; for climate change, geoengineering that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or changes the Earth's radiation balance. The more policies fail to reduce and constrain the underlying drivers of the nuclear and climate threats, the more measures to defend against the physical effects may seem justified. Ultimately, the overarching policy question centers on whether nuclear war and catastrophic climate change can be dealt with solely through reductions in the drivers of those threats, or if active defenses against them will be requested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how global warming is affecting competition for resources and how international security priorities are changing. Global warming has already caused some ecosystems to already show stress, and continued environmental degradation will increase this stress to the point where human health and life will be threatened. Societal implications of global warming will depend on the way that human beings and social systems respond. Some measures will help while other may result in migration away from stressed areas. This could result in conflict and security problems.

Addressing deficits of current research on the link between climate change and violent conflict, this article aims to contribute to a more systematic understanding of the violence concept in the context of environmental change. We present a theoretical framework and potential pathways between climate change and violence and an agent-based approach to assess the interplay between capabilities and motivations for violence and the conditions for conflicting or cooperative interactions. Acting as a ‘threat multiplier’, climate change could exceed adaptive capacities and undermine the livelihoods of communities. In the most affected regions, the erosion of social order and state failure as well as already ongoing violent conflicts could be aggravated, leading to a spiral of violence that further dissolves societal structures. Against this background we analyse case studies in Kenya and Sudan, focusing on factors driving or preventing a spiral of violence. While interpastoral conflicts in north-western Kenya result in limited numbers of casualties, the Darfur conflict has been shaped by the civil war in Sudan, involving the government, rebel forces and militias, causing significant loss of lives and destruction. The impact of climate change is less direct in Sudan than in Kenya. To avoid a spiral of violence, in both cases it is essential to reduce socio-economical marginalisation, develop resource-sharing mechanisms and restrain access to arms as part of long-term strategies for a sustainable and peaceful intervention to contain the adverse impacts of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's monsoon dependent agriculture is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and inadequate policies contribute to socio-economic difficulties in farming communities. Many current policies and strategies to combat climate change impacts are focused on technical aspects of adaptations whereas little research is done to understand the socio-economic dimensions, particularly the perspectives of farmers. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with more than 800 farm-families residing in the Northeastern Region of India (NER), an Eastern Himalayan ecosystem. Results show that most farmers perceive changes in climate and are aware of its agricultural and socio-economic impacts. The majority of farmers from all eight NER states have personally experienced unusual climatic events within the last 10–15 years. About two-thirds believe that climate change is largely man-made and there is an urgent need to take action. Many farmers observed declining water availability and soil fertility across NER. High cost of agricultural inputs and unawareness of effective adaptation technologies are the core barriers for adaptation in NER. To sustain their livelihoods, vulnerable farmers have adopted a few low-cost measures. However, strategic interventions are highly advocated to empower human capital for enhancing socio-ecological resilience. In conclusion, to overcome the barriers of farm adaptations in NER, holistic support programs are needed, which raise awareness for suitable actions, reduce input costs, and facilitate access to financial credits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze the role of social capital and leadership in improving the adaptive capacity of Iranian pistachio farmers by using Social Network Analysis (SNA). The results indicate that the studied network is not a dense network, and there are few reciprocal and face-to-face relations among farmers. The findings also illustrate that in all cooperative links, there were no noticeable bridging links among the farmers and their tendency toward bonding links, indicating less bridging social capital at the three studied villages. The nature of relationships in social networks will improve if the quality of communication between individuals in a network and actors from other networks and villages is enhanced. This can increase the productivity of social networks and lead to higher quality resources, better support, development of useful information between networks and improvement in farmers' adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a systematic analysis of water management and allocation on the scale of a river basin, considering climate impacts and stakeholder networks in the Dongjiang River basin in South China. Specific approaches are integrated to explore various subtopics. Findings indicate a slight increase of precipitation in the basin and strong fluctuations in this century due to climate extremes, which may lead to seasonal or quality-related water shortages. It is highlighted that alternative options for holistic water management are needed in the basin, and participatory water allocation mechanisms and establishment of a basin-wide management framework could be helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]