Does Global Warming = Genocide?

Does global warming's impending threat of rising sea levels amount to genocide? According to the charismatic president of the low-lying island nation The Maldives, it does.

President Mohamed Nasheed, whose country could be completely submerged by the end of the century if global warming continues unabated, plans to take this message to the upcoming Copenhagen Summit on climate change. Nasheed commented during a PBS interview that rising sea levels will result in "the most profound genocide" the world as seen: "We are talking about genocide...we are making a decision based on which you will decide if the Maldives will exist or not."

The gravity of the president's statements are certainly not exaggerated, but is he correct in his terminology? If the cause of this future destruction is man-made and it is known now what the consequences for human life will be, but we fail to take drastic action to prevent the disaster, are we culpable of genocide by omission?

The defining characteristic of genocide is that it is intentional -- there is no such thing as genocide by omission. But elevating climate change to the level of an international crime, be it genocide or something equally repugnant, could have interesting implications. Should change-resistant countries, politicians, and industrial polluters be held criminally responsible not only for environmental destruction, but for the loss of human life likely to go along?

Perhaps upping the ante on accountability for climate change would make certain leaders of the free world would be a little more responsive of their invitations to Copenhagen.

[Photo from The Maldives from Wikimedia Commons.]