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EU Steels for Global Warming Conflict With Russians

Climate change will multiply trouble: report

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 7, 2008 6:21 AM CST

(Newser) – The already-fraught relationship between Europe and Russia is bound to get worse in the next few decades. That's the sobering conclusion of a new European Union report on global warming and international politics, which concludes that climate change will act as a "threat multiplier," exacerbating today's problems and generating new ones. In the Arctic, the Middle East and the Caribbean, ecological transformations will have global political consequences, reports Reuters.

The report, prepared by the European Commission for EU leaders, warns of many scenarios: massive migration from islands and coastal areas as sea levels rise, or border disputes as land becomes less arable. But it highlights the recent showdown over Arctic sovereignty, which culminated in a Russian expedition team boldly planting their flag at the North Pole. As trade routes open and energy resources dwindle, the battle for the top of the world could spell major regional conflicts, the report warns.

A Russian deep-diving miniature submarine is lowered from the research vessel Akademik Fyodorov moments before performing a dive in the Arctic Ocean beneath the ice at the North Pole in this photograph taken Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007.
A Russian deep-diving miniature submarine is lowered from the research vessel Akademik Fyodorov moments before performing a dive in the Arctic Ocean beneath the ice at the North Pole in this photograph...   (Associated Press)
A titanium capsule with the Russian flag is seen seconds after it was planted by the Mir-1 mini submarine on the Arctic Ocean seabed under the North Pole during a record dive in this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, file photo. Russia planted a flag on the seabed under the North...
A titanium capsule with the Russian flag is seen seconds after it was planted by the Mir-1 mini submarine on the Arctic Ocean seabed under the North Pole during a record dive in this Thursday, Aug. 2,...   (Associated Press)
The Rossiya (Russia) nuclear icebreaker navigates back from the North Pole after providing support to a mini submarines' mission to the floor of the Arctic Ocean in this Sunday, Aug. 8, 2007, file photo.
The Rossiya (Russia) nuclear icebreaker navigates back from the North Pole after providing support to a mini submarines' mission to the floor of the Arctic Ocean in this Sunday, Aug. 8, 2007, file photo.   (Associated Press)
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