More on climate change and national security

Scary stuff 6

More and more experts are saying global warming is as grave a threat to our national security (PDF) as terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Some in the media are coming to the same view.

The Financial Times set up their coverage with the following scenario, pulled from a Pentagon memo:

Picture Japan, suffering from flooding along its coastal cities and contamination of its fresh water supply, eyeing Russia's Sakhalin Island oil and gas reserves as an energy source ... Envision Pakistan, India and China - all armed with nuclear weapons - skirmishing at their borders over refugees, access to shared river and arable land.

Doomsday ClockAnd if nuclear power plants take center stage in the drive to cut carbon dioxide emissions and therein lead to nuclear weapon proliferation, you can see why the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock forward two minutes in anticipation of potentially unwise climate solutions.

There is no telling what consequence of global warming will be the most devastating -- refugees, spurred terrorism, sea level rise, food and water shortages -- but we must bear them all in mind. The national security threat posed by global warming will only grow if we continue our do-nothing policy.

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Joseph Romm is the editor of Climate Progress and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

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  1. GreyFlcn Posted 7:06 am
    03 Jun 2007

    All the more reasonAll the more reason to proliferate Nuclear reactors around the world.
    That way Global Warming is no longer our top threat.
    Problem solved :P

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  2. GreyFlcn Posted 7:25 am
    03 Jun 2007

    As said in the other threadThe easy answer to Nuclear?  Geothermal.
    Specifically Binary "Hot Dry Rock" Geothermal, supported by superpowered iron electric drilling motors.
    http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=1723 ...

    http://www.calenergy.com/html/aboutus4.asp

    http://www.rasertech.com/media/movies/html/well_to_wheels ...

    http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1206
    Geothermal gets hardly a drop of government subsidy.

    (Infact Bush wanted it to get $0 dollars in R&D subsidy)
    And yet it can outcompete Nuclear on both cost, and building speed.
    _
    http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/1148

    http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/1212

    http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/1088

    http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story?id ...

    http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47 ...
    _
    For everything else, there's solar panels, and solar thermal concentrators.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXjEBWBBdug&eurl=

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  3. tico89 Posted 7:30 am
    03 Jun 2007

    The causeMore and more experts are saying global warming is as grave a threat to our national security (PDF) as terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
    It sounds more like global warming will be a catalyst for grave threats like terrorism and nuclear proliferation. After all, it's not global warming itself that's a threat (a few degrees warmer? Air conditioning can deal with that). It's what it causes, especially among those who can't manage a move to the tundra once it becomes a tropical paradise, and famine, drought and floods spread through their own lands.

    If I share initials with 'Global Warming', is that a sign?

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  4. Kristina & Jason Makansi Posted 7:56 am
    03 Jun 2007

    global warming and national securityIt isn't just global warming that is a threat to national security, it is our continued dependence on foreign sources of fuel. So, while some see increased use of LNG as a positive for reducing greenhouse gases, it is worth bearing in mind that much of the LNG in the world sits in the same geopolitical hot spots as oil. For a no-holds-barred look at topics like lengthening supply lines and national security, take a look at the new book: Lights Out-The Electricity Crisis, the Global Economy, and What It Means To You.

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  5. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 8:41 am
    03 Jun 2007

    Who Asked?

    Nice "answer to nuclear".
    But no one asked.
    Most people would be happy to have a nuclear grid producing 80% of our electricity just like France.

    John Bailo, The "Denier Guy"


    You Read It Here First

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  6. GreyFlcn Posted 11:55 am
    03 Jun 2007

    Most people would be happy eh?Is that why it makes national news when an Iranian tech guy merely downloads a nuclear training manual.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,267641,00.html
    Besides which, I'm sure the last thing you'll hear from people on FreeRepublic etc. is "Lets be like the French"

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