Climate and world order : an inquiry into the natural cause of underdevelopment

The author tries to show that the ropical climate is a permanent natural obstacle to the economic, political and cultural development of the South. While imperialism is the greatest single historical force responsible for the backwardness of the South, the tropical climate is the greatest single natural cause of its underdevelopment. By contrast, the temperate climate has bestowed many permanent natural advantages on the North, and is one of the major factors behind its accelerated development. While the North is trying to preserve the global climate status quo by fighting against "climatic variability", the interest of the South lies in amelioration of the tropical climate and the modification of the global climatic dichotomy. The need for deliberate and internationally organized macroclimatic modification has been emphasized. The technological feasibility of such modification has been shown in detail. The argument is that a more uniform global climate would help accelerate the development of the South without adversely affecting that of the North, and that global macroclimatic modification through international action is a necessary condition for the establishment of a new world order.