Climate change taken seriously as security threat by Pentagon

by Rich Bowden - Aug 10 2009, 07:24

The Obama administration has, in many areas, ushered in a new can-do approach to the climate change crisis, in contrast to the previous administration's eight years of "head-in-the-sand" way of dealing with rising global temperatures.

The new strategy seems to have inspired the Pentagon, which for the first time has accepted global warming as a serious strategic security threat.

The New York Times reports that a group of military analysts and intelligence experts have canvassed the very real possibility that the U.S. military may need to respond aggressively to effects caused by climate change.

These manifestations of global warming, such as violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, may need to be neutralised militarily in order to defuse potentially serious threats to security, reports the newspaper.

The Pentagon nominated the most vulnerable regions as sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia, which, if predictions on the outcome of global warming are correct, will face food shortages, lack of water and the aftermath of large-scale storms.

Analysts are concerned these factors could lead to increased support for terrorist organisations giving rise to profound strategic challenges for the U.S. military, says NYT.

Peter Ogden, chief of staff to Todd Stern, the State Department’s top climate negotiator was quoted by the newspaper as saying:

“The sense that climate change poses security and geopolitical challenges is central to the thinking of the State Department and the climate office.”

The National Intelligence Council, the source for government-sponsored intelligence analyses, said in a recent report that humanitarian emergencies brought about by global warming may severely tax the military's resources.

“The demands of these potential humanitarian responses may significantly tax U.S. military transportation and support force structures, resulting in a strained readiness posture and decreased strategic depth for combat operations,” the report said.
 

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