Meet the Turkana of Kenya and the Dassanech, Nyangatom, and Mursi of Ethiopia — their lives and culture depend on the waters of the Omo River and the body into which it flows, Lake Turkana.

In the past few decades Lake Turkana has been experiencing an anomaly: higher temperatures and less rainfall. The water is disappearing. Tribes now have to cross each other’s territories in search of water. Armed with AK47s and M16s, they kill, raid livestock and attack their rivals' villages, displacing thousands each year.

These are “some of the world’s first climate-change conflicts,” according to one UN official. And many climate scientists agree this conflict will be increasingly common in the 21st century — as worsening drought pits group against group, nation against nation.

But this story is not only about climate change. The Ethiopian government is building a dam on the upper Omo River that threatens to halt the annual flood cycles if completed, spiraling 800,000 tribesmen even further into conflict.

Directed by Evan Abramson
Produced and Edited by Jennifer Redfearn
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Executive Producers: Roger Cohn for Yale Environment 350 and Brian Storm for MediaStorm

Learn more: e360.yale.edu