Climate Change is a National Security Threat
A 2003 Defense Department report predicted that climate change could “potentially destabilize the geopolitical environment, leading to skirmishes, battles, and even war due to resource constraints.”
A 2007 Center for Naval Analyses report warned that global warming is a “threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world.”
A 2008 National Intelligence Council report found that more than 30 U.S. military installations were already facing elevated levels of risk from rising sea levels.
In September, the Central Intelligence Agency opened a Center on Climate Change and National Security.
On Monday, the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) concluded that climate change is a national security threat: “While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world.”
“We will pay for this one way or another. We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we’ll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives.” – Gen. Anthony Zinni
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