Climate change and Wars. Are they linked?

How often do we sit and ponder about something that does not affect us on a quotidian basis? Especially, about the interconnectedness between two equally appalling things: climate change and wars. While there is some influence of both on each other, the question is who dominates the other? Extreme wars have been notorious of affecting the geographical landscape sometimes making the land permanently infertile and barren. The inimical gases from explosions have not only corroded and devolved the air quality but also contaminated water resources. However, can climate change lead to wars? This statement is espoused by the true story of Chad Lake. The vast lake has shrunk from 25000 square km to half that area today. While there is little doubt that religious extremism and ineffective government have been the cardinal causes of the rising jihadists of Boko Haram, the role of climate change cannot be overlooked. Violence in the region was aggravated because of drought since now people had limited resources, which were to be shared amongst an increased population. With inefficacious government, the situation was exacerbated by a myriad of gun distribution, making the land susceptible to violence. Studies across the globe have incessantly underscored the relation between greenhouse gases and aberrations in climate. Even a 'small nuclear exchange' of just fifty 15-kilotonne warheads would cause 690 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through the burning of cities – more than the current annual emissions of the UK. These gases surreptitiously get absorbed into the atmosphere, fracturing the ozone layer. Most of our impetuous actions have indirectly made the environment more erratic. Climate change is corollary after a huge outburst of nuclear waste from war. We as a civilization have underestimated the costs that come with overutilization of natural resources and this imprudence continues to haunt us even to this date.