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Yearly Archives: 2015
Video and Background Reading – Warriors and Weather: Climate and Security in America
Sailors aboard the USS Nicholas as it departs Naval Station Norfolk ahead of Hurricane Irene. (U.S. Navy photo by Aaron Chase)
The Economist recently produced a short video, Warriors and weather: Climate change and national security in America. It’s a good overview of some of the issues the U.S. Department of Defense is grappling with in regards to climate change. The video is posted below. For those looking for more than a brief overview, also posted below are links to the documents and background sources for the information presented in the video. The background documents are listed in the order that they are mentioned in the video. (more…)
Interview With Major General (Ret) Rich Engel On Climate Security & the National Intelligence Council
Australian Military personnel help Tsunami victims, Banda Aceh, Sumatra. Photo by Benjamin D. Glass
The Cipher Brief recently sat down with Major General (Ret) Richard Engel, Director of the Technology and Strategic Futures Program at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to talk climate change and national security. In the interview Engel shed light on the development of the 2008 National Intelligence Assessment (NIA) on climate change and its impacts on U.S. National Security, and the evolution of how the intelligence community evaluates these risks since that assessment. The interview also explores the immediate impacts of climate change on US national security and global stability, the role of the intelligence community in mitigating the risks, opportunities for international cooperation, and whether or not we are too late on some of the risks. The full interview is worth a read. (more…)
Admiral Titley on Climate Security : a Scientist and a Sailor Speaks Sense to the Senate
Tuesday, December 8th, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness held a hearing titled: Data or Dogma? Promoting Open Inquiry in the Debate over the Magnitude of Human Impact on Earth’s Climate. The hearing was convened by the chairman of the committee, Sen. Ted Cruz, also a presidential candidate. As such, much of the media coverage of this hearing has been on the partisan divide over climate change issues. Lost in the mud-slinging is the full testimony and responses from Rear Admiral David Titley, USN (Ret), former Oceanographer of the Navy and a distinguished member of our Advisory Board. With credentials as a scientist, and 32-years in the Navy, Admiral Titley has spent quite a bit of time conducting scientific inquiries and risk assessments, and acting on them. The very short version of his testimony is that “this is all about risk management, but if we don’t take significant actions now, the risk could become very difficult to manage.” (more…)
Let’s Not Say Climate Change Causes War. But Let’s Also Not Ignore the Real Security Risks
Reuters/Rodi Said
Foreign Policy published an article yesterday by David Livingstone titled “Stop Saying Climate Change Causes War: The dangerous ethical implications of letting humans off the hook for their conflicts.” We agree with the title. Climate change contributes to insecurity, and can contribute to conflict, but there’s little evidence suggesting that climate change acts as a primary cause of war. We also do not want to let the authoritarians of the world off the hook for their bad governance. However, the article goes on to largely dismiss, or ignore, recent research demonstrating a connection between climate change and security. Most worryingly it seems to be arguing with outdated 19th century “environmental determinist” thinkers. This is a misguided trend which could obscure rather than illuminate the truth. (more…)