– There are people of every flavor with strong opinions about Global Climate Change out there. Just Googling the subject will expose you to the full range of supporters and deniers of the idea that mankind’s activities are changing the global climate.
– Amid all this controversy, I’ve chosen to align my beliefs with what the majority of the world’s scientists believe. And that is that humanity’s activities are affecting global climate and the changes are likely to be ugly (see IPCC Reports ➡).
– But there are other ways to get at the truth through all the rhetoric and hand waving and that is to ask yourself who is it that has a deep and vested interest in discovering the truth rather than pandering to political or monetary forces. Well, the insurance industry is one ➡ and military think tanks are another. Neither of these entities can afford to be wrong because the bottom line of their very survival is directly linked to their ability to discern the future accurately.
– Here’s a report from the CNA Corporation, a military think tank based out of Alexandria, Virginia. This is not the first time ➡ ➡ I’ve seen assessments of the likely impact of global climate change on national security matters and it won’t be the last, I’m sure.
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During our decades of experience in the U.S. military, we have addressed many national security challenges, from containment and deterrence of the Soviet nuclear threat during the Cold War to terrorism and extremism in recent years.
Global climate change presents a new and very different type of national
security challenge.
Over many months and meetings, we met with some of the world’s leading climate scientists, business leaders, and others studying climate change. We viewed their work through the lens of our military experience as warfighters, planners, and leaders. Our discussions have been lively, informative, and very sobering.
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are greater now than at any time in the past 650,000 years, and average global temperature has continued a steady rise. This rise presents the prospect of significant climate change, and while uncertainty exists and debate continues regarding the science and future extent of projected climate changes, the trends are clear.
The nature and pace of climate changes being observed today and the consequences projected by the consensus scientific opinion are grave and pose equally grave implications for our national security. Moving beyond the arguments of cause and effect, it is important that the U.S. military begin planning to address these potentially devastating effects. The consequences of climate change can affect the organization, training, equipping, and planning of the military services. The U.S. military has a clear obligation to determine the potential impacts of climate change on its ability to execute its missions in support of national security objectives.
Climate change can act as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world, and it presents significant national security challenges for the United States. Accordingly, it is appropriate to start now to help mitigate the severity of some of these emergent challenges. The decision to act should be made soon in order to plan prudently for the nation’s security. The increasing risks from climate change should be addressed now because they will almost certainly get worse if we delay.
To the full report: ➡
To a number of news reports about this report:
– All of these stories were drawn from the first page of a Google search for ‘National Security and the Threat of Climate Change‘. There’s a TON of stuff out there if you go looking.
– Thx to Michael D. for the lead to this story.
