Bloomberg TV: Climate Change as a Geopolitical Risk
Sherri Goodman, Senior Advisor for International Security at The Center for Climate & Security, explains how climate change has become a geopolitical risk. She speaks with Bloomberg’s Alix Steel on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas” on September 26, 2018.
Watch the interview here:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-09-26/viewing-climate-change-as-a-geopolitical-risk-video
Release: CCS Applauds Choice of Rear Admiral Phillips as Virginia’s Coastal Resilience Lead
Washington, DC – The Center for Climate and Security applauds the choice of Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, United States Navy (retired) to lead Virginia’s climate resilience efforts. Admiral Phillips will serve in a cabinet-level position as Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection. Admiral Phillips is a distinguished member of the Center for Climate and Security’s Advisory Board, and has been a leading voice on the risks climate change poses to both military and civilian communities, particularly along the southeastern coast. Before joining the Center, she served for 31 years in the U.S. Navy, including as Commander of Destroyer Squadron TWO EIGHT and Expeditionary Strike Group TWO, as Senior Fellow on the Chief of Naval Operation’s Strategic Studies Group XXVIII, as Deputy Director and Director of the Surface Warfare Division, and as Co-Chair of the Surface Force Working Group in the Navy’s Climate Change Task Force and Energy Task Force.
In response to the announcement, senior national security and defense leaders from the Center for Climate and Security applauded the appointment. See their statements below. (more…)
Release: North Carolina Leaders, Military and Security Experts Discuss Climate Threats in Wake of Hurricane Florence
Event: “Sea Level Rise & Security in the Southeast: Implications for the Military and Civilian Communities”
Date and time: September 24, 2018, from 2:00pm-4:45pm (Livestream available here during opening remarks, and then again after the film screening, at approximately 3:00pm)
Location: The James B. Hunt Jr Library, NC State University Centennial Campus, Raleigh, NC
Hosts: The Center for Climate and Security in partnership with The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, North Carolina Sea Grant, and the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership
Agenda and speakers: here
North Carolina fact sheet: here
Raleigh, NC – As the citizens of North Carolina come to terms with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence and the devastating impacts of storm-related flooding, The Center for Climate and Security, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, North Carolina Sea Grant, and the Albermarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership have come together to discuss how the effects of sea level rise, storm surge, and extreme weather events can combine to greatly effect the state’s coastal communities, the military operations carried out at installations located in the eastern part of the state, and how planning for resilience can be integrated into the long-term outlook and policy for the region. (more…)
Climate Threats are Shaping Regional Security Cooperation in the Pacific
Pacific leaders pose for a photo at the 2018 Pacific Islands Forum
A new Pacific regional security declaration includes measures to orient regional cooperation around building resilience to disasters and climate impacts.
The Boe Declaration was signed on September 5th at the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru by Australia, New Zealand and a range of Pacific Island countries. It defines climate change as the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of Pacific people. (more…)
Upcoming Event in NC – Sea Level Rise and Security in the Southeast: Implications for the Military and Coastal Communities
“Flash flooding because of rainfall is just the first phase. Once the rain gets back to the rivers, heading back to the Atlantic, there is another set of flooding.” Major General Greg Lusk, Adjutant General of the North Carolina National Guard
“I do think that the climate is changing, and I do think that it is becoming more severe…I do think that storms are becoming bigger, larger, more violent.” General Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau
The Center for Climate and Security’s Military Expert Panel, including senior retired flag and general officers from each of the Armed Services, recently issued the 2ndedition of a report concluding that sea level rise risks to coastal military installations will present serious risks to the military mission, underscoring a ‘Responsibility to Prepare.’ The report includes new information regarding military installation vulnerabilities, including to the energy and transportation infrastructure that these installations depend on, showing significant risks to high-value military sites – in North Carolina and across the country (see our recent post highlighting Hurricane Florence’s impact on military infrastructure and surrounding civilian communities, as well as U.S. military, National Guard and Coast Guard operations in the state). The report asserts that policies for addressing climate change risks must go beyond military infrastructure resilience, to include the resilience of surrounding civilian infrastructure, as well as the resilience of military operations in the face of these rapid changes.
In this context, please join the Center for Climate and Security, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, North Carolina Sea Grant, and the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, for a discussion about these significant risks, and the opportunities in North Carolina for addressing them. The event will kick-off with a screening of Tidewater, an award-winning film from the American Resilience Project, that details the challenges sea level rise presents to military readiness, national security, and coastal communities in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia – lessons that are certainly relevant to North Carolina.
The event will take place Monday, September 24 in Raleigh North Carolina at 2pm at the NCSU Hunt Library, 1070 Partners Way, Raleigh, NC 27606.
The event is free, but registration is required. To register, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TidewaterEvent
Hurricane Florence’s Impacts on Military Installations and Missions in the Southeast
U.S. Army personnel head out from Fort Bragg to provide aid to North Carolinians flooded by Hurricane Florence, Sept. 15, 2018. ANDREW MCNEIL/U.S. ARMY
By John Conger
When it comes to climate change, there are some issues (sea level rise, Arctic ice melt) which it doesn’t take a science degree to get one’s head around. Extreme weather, on the other hand, is highly complex and there isn’t always a simple way to characterize changes in a way that doesn’t spur debate.
Nonetheless, it is widely acknowledged by scientists, based on decades of rainfall data, that climate change is significantly increasing the frequency of weather events that deliver extreme rainfall, such as hurricane Florence. And what’s entirely beyond debate is that in addition to the climate risks civilian populations and infrastructure faces in the region, the Department of Defense has multiple important installations in areas that are vulnerable to extreme rainfall events, and Hurricane Florence just slammed into several of them. (more…)
Climate and Security Week(s) in Review: September 4-16
The South Carolina Air National Guard and 169th Fighter Wing prepare to deploy from McEntire Joint National Guard Base to support civilian agencies for Hurricane Florence. CAYCEE WATSON/AIR NATIONAL GUARD
Here are a list of notable headlines and comments on climate and security matters from the past several weeks. If we’ve missed any, let us know.
- Sept 15 – All 13
#NEGuard Soldiers and 2 Blackhawk helicopters arrived at the McGhee Tyson ANG Base in Tennessee. The unit is now one of many waiting for the worst of#HurricaneFlorence to pass before moving further into the Carolinas to begin relief operations.#NationalGuard via @NENationalGuard
- Sept 14 -More than 5 million people are at risk from the storm, which the Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center categorizes as a super typhoon with powerful winds and gusts equivalent to a category 5 Atlantic hurricane https://t.co/AEyDRtTigS via @starsandstripes
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