Climate Change, State Fragility and the New CHIRPS Dataset
Reuters/Rodi Said
By Dr. Colin Kelley, Senior Research Fellow, The Center for Climate and Security
In order to better understand the nexus linking climate change and state fragility, we need to better grasp the effects of climatic changes, particularly in rainfall and temperature, at the regional, national and subnational levels, and what they mean for resource availability. Enter a new data product called CHIRPS.
The USAID Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), in conjunction with scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara, recently developed a new precipitation dataset in support of drought monitoring called CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data). CHIRPS has already been utilized successfully for this purpose, but also has other far reaching implications that will be important for better understanding of subnational to global security dynamics. These include an improved characterization of resilience in regions and states that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability. (more…)
Special Issue: Health Security and Climate Change
Philippine and U.S. service members learn to identify heat stroke (photo by Lance Cpl. Perria)
The Journal Health Security has a special issue out on climate change. The contents and abstracts are listed below. The special issue does a great job of exploring the emerging intersection between health and climate security, including a look at wildfires, the role of the US Department of Defense, and risks related to extreme heat. The issue is open access (free articles) for the next two months, so get reading! (more…)
Climate Change as a Non-State Actor
By Neil Bhatiya, Climate and Diplomacy Fellow, The Center for Climate and Security
Over at The Strategy Bridge, I have a new piece on the nature of climate change as a threat to international peace and security, and how the U.S. government is responding to it and should respond to it in the future. In many ways, climate change is a unique challenge to U.S. foreign policy. There is very little precedent for facing a threat this complex and wide in scope. From the article: (more…)
Enhancing U.S.-Philippines Defense Cooperation in a Changing Climate
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian H. Abel
By Christine Parthemore, Executive Director, The Center for Climate and Security
As part of a long trip through the Asia-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter made news this week during his stop in the Philippines, where he announced new details of America’s current defense relationship and plans to expand it. The U.S. will be “deploying nine aircraft and hundreds of U.S. troops and special operators to at least seven bases in the Philippines as part of a new, regular presence there,” as Stars and Stripes reported. This additional presence, Carter stated, is primarily to “tamp down tensions” in the South China Sea.
With more U.S. assets and personnel heading to the region, the U.S.-Philippines partnership needs to include measures to ensure preparedness for some of the more damaging effects of climate change, including sea level rise, that will hit the Philippines particularly hard. The bilateral relationship already includes work relevant to preparing for the changing climate, including the humanitarian assistance/disaster relief elements of the annual Balikatan exercise. Other productive cooperative activities could include:
- Sharing sea level rise projections relevant to military and coast guard facilities.
- Where projections need updating, develop them together. This should include reviewing whether data can be leveraged from existing terrestrial monitors and remote sensing assets.
- Share lessons with the Philippines from U.S. bases already being hit by sea level rise, such as our critical defense sites in the Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads area.
Be sure to track Carter’s trip at the Department’s extensive Asia-Pacific Rebalance website, and check out the Center for Climate and Security’s analysis and recommendations on climate change and the Asia-Pacific rebalance here.