How to Prevent the Next Darfur

The world's worst man-made disaster highlights the potentially catstrophic effects of climate change on Africa

Lynsey Addario / Corbis

Chad, with its very limited supply of natural resources, is being strained due to the deluge of Sudanese refugees into camps along Chad's border with Darfur since 2004.

The first sign that we are entering a dead zone is the carcass of a camel, gathering flies and red dust. Since camels can go for three weeks without water, according to local farmers, the heap of fur, hair and bleached bones is an ominous sight. We enter a mud-walled, straw-roofed village. Instead of offering the usual smiles and waves, the children duck away. The reason for the villagers' fear becomes evident a few minutes later: nine turbaned men on horseback, members of the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, appear with rifles over their shoulders. We are gone before they...

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