Does This Mean We Should Drop Ice Cubes On Them?

Did global warming cause the Syrian civil war?

According to Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, the Syrian conflict that has caught the attention of the world was preceded by the “worst long-term drought and most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilizations began in the Fertile Crescent.”

The severe drought, combined with massive crop failures and poor agricultural policy on the part of the Assad regime, forced mass migrations from the countryside to cities that were already hard-pressed by refugees from Iraq, Femia argues. Military analysts overlooked these factors and argued that Syria would be immune to the civil unrest that had previously swept through authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes.

Of course, there's no evidence that global warming (assuming it is occurring, and that it is caused by human carbon emissions)  is causing droughts, in the United States or elsewhere.  And of course, the Middle East is notoriously dry and drought prone, so a seriously drought there is hardly unusual.  As for "most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilizations began in the Fertile Crescent," show me the records...

And then there's the issue of whether droughts cause conflicts:

“There is no consensus in the scholarly or policy communities as to what factors specifically contribute to, much less cause, conflict,” said William Martel, associate professor of international security studies at Tufts University.

Jeff Kueter, president of the Marshall Institute, authored a paper that argued environmental factors rarely incite conflict, but instead such factors often breed cooperation.

 So the idea is idiotic, but on the optimistic side, it will be an interesting new entry in the "Warm List" (if they ever get around to updating it again; I have a feeling they're overwhelmed).