Pentagon Says Warming May Affect Global Security and U.S. Missions
February 2nd, 2010 by 
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In a report to Congress, the U.S. military for the first time is warning that the effects of climate change may cause or exacerbate future global conflicts and complicate U.S. missions worldwide.
In its regular Quadrennial Defense Review, the Defense Department warns that the effects of a warming world, including increased poverty, hunger and disease, could further weaken fragile governments and perhaps provoke mass migrations.
“While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden on civilian institutions and militaries around the world,” the report suggests.
And citing research that finds climate-related changes “in every region of the world,” the Defense Department concludes that U.S. forces will increasingly confront the effects of climate change, including extreme weather conditions and rising seas.
The document describes the need not just to respond to the effects of climate change, but to adopt policies that will lessen the environmental impacts of military operations, including a reduction in the use of fuel in U.S. missions.
Article appearing courtesy of Yale Environment 360
photo: US Army Korea
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Tags:  Climate Change Defense Department military operations Pentagon US military | [ Permalink ] |
There is plenty of evidence that climate change can bring about civil disorder, especially when the weather gets colder as in the LIA “Little Ice Age”.
Historians tell us the the LIA caused famines and made populations more susceptible to disease. Some even attribute the French revolution to the LIA.
Warm periods such as the Roman & Medieval Warm Periods were times of prosperity.
If you are in favor of a cooler climate does that mean you prefer famine to prosperity?