A climate for calamity
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
Abrupt climate change could render parts of Europe “unlivable” by 2020, and reduce Earth to a “world of warring states,” according to a Pentagon study. Intense global warming could melt polar ice and swell the oceans with fresh water, altering sea currents that warm the Northern hemisphere. America would suffer economic damage but avoid catastrophe, while Europe’s climate would chill and become “more like Siberia’s.” A “cold and hungry” China would erupt in civil war. The authors of the report, “Imagining the Unthinkable,” said they were not predicting that such climate changes would actually happen. Rather, they wanted “to dramatize the impact climate change could have on society if we are unprepared for it.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Charlotte Dujardin and equestrianism's dark side
In the Spotlight Olympic gold medallist and dressage star's suspension over horse whipping brings abuse in horse sports back into the spotlight
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why Roman epic Those About to Die has split the critics
Talking Point Sword and sandals miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins puts spectacle above story
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published