It is always interesting to learn about the connection between natural sciences and social sciences. And for me, it is even more exciting to learn the impact of the greatest challenge of human kind 'Climate Change' with historic political movement the 'Arab Spring' happened in the Arab world. In this connection, I found one report which tries to establish a link between the Arab Spring and
Climate Change.
In 2012, Troy Sternberg, a scholar of Oxford University,
published an article in Applied Geography Volume 34 (519-524) entitled “Chinese drought, bread and
the Arab Spring” in which he argues that the Arab spring was a result of
increased wheat price in the international market due to winter drought in
eastern china which might be caused by climate change.
Another report published
in February 2013 by Centre for American Progress and Centre for Climate and
Security entitled “The Arab Spring and Climate Change: A Climate and Security Correlations Series” is a collection of five different articles in climate
change, conflict, and economy that are edited by Caitlin E. Werrell and
Francesco Femia. The report highlights Climate Change as a stressor and indirectly argue that the Arab Spring was caused by Climate Change. In addition, the
essays compiled in this report give a clear sense of relation between climate
change in terms of record winter drought in China and its subsequent global wheat shortages, and civil unrest in Egypt stimulated by increased price of
wheat in the market.
