Climate change and water scarcity will increase risk of nuclear catastrophe in South Asia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Climate change poses grave challenges to global peace and stability. Nowhere is the relation between the climate crisis and the increased threat of nuclear war clearer than in South Asia, where approximately 700 million people in India, Pakistan, China, and Bangladesh depend on the shared waters of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins. These river systems, fed by Himalayan glaciers, are diminishing markedly due to climate change. As geopolitical tensions in the region intensify, it becomes even more crucial to address and eliminate the two intertwined existential threats of water scarcity (caused by climate change) and the risk of nuclear war. This paper analyses the Indus River conflict and the Brahmaputra conflict in turn and offers effective strategies and recommendations for dealing with the threats.