Military and National Security Leaders Criticize Decision to Shut Down U.S. Navy Task Force Climate Change
Rear Admiral Jon White, USN (Ret), led the U.S. Navy Task Force Climate Change from 2012-2015
According to E&E News, the United States Navy has ‘quietly stood down its Task Force Climate Change (TFCC), created in 2009 to plan and develop “future public, strategic, and policy discussions” on the issue.’ The decision is not getting good reviews from the Navy leader who started the task force, and the national security leader who valued its work. While the TFCC was never meant to exist forever (the nature of a task force is to perform a task and then disband), the Center for Climate and Security’s Rear Admiral Jonathan White, U.S. Navy (Ret), who led the TFCC from 2012 to 2015, highlights the fact that the goal of the task force was to fully incorporate climate change into the U.S. Navy’s decision-making processes, and that this simply hasn’t happened yet. From the article: (more…)
Briefer: Climate Change Implications for U.S. Military Aircraft
By Mariah Furtek
Climate change is radically altering the physical environment in the theater of conflict, making future military successes dependent on adaptation today. New research shows that climate change is reducing performance of U.S. military aircraft. As the environment grows hotter and more humid, military aircraft will not be able to carry as much payload or travel long distances without refueling. More missions will be cancelled or modified due to decreased aircraft performance on hot and humid days, which diminishes the U.S. military’s ability to project power and respond effectively to conflicts. (more…)
Army War College: The U.S. Military is “Precariously Underprepared” for Climate Change
By Mariah Furtek,
The United States Army War College recently released a report exploring the significant impact climate change will have on national security and U.S. Army operations, and offering a set of urgent recommendations. The second sentence of the report sets the stage immediately, stating “the Department of Defense is precariously underprepared for the national security implications of climate change-induced global security challenges.”
The report details the most eminent threats climate change poses to national security: severe weather events, mass migration, diminishing global freshwater supplies, changing disease vectors, Arctic competition, stress on the U.S. power grid and nuclear reactors, as well as sea-level rise. (more…)
Admiral Phillips and Admiral Titley to House Budget Committee: The Security Costs of Climate Change
Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, USN (Ret), testifies before the House Budget Committee, July 24, 2019
By Mariah Furtek
On Wednesday, June 24, the House Budget Committee held a hearing on the costs the U.S. is facing due to climate change and the resulting expenses for our security enterprise.
Witnesses included Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, US Navy (Ret) and Rear Admiral David Titley, US Navy (Ret), both members of the Center for Climate and Security Advisory Board. Witnesses focused on a wide range of climate change impacts on national security, coastal infrastructure, agriculture and public health. (more…)
The New U.S. Department of Defense Leadership Team on Climate Security
Secretary Mark Esper and General Mark A. Milley, USA
By John Conger
As the confirmation processes continue for both Mark Esper to become Secretary of Defense and General Mark A. Milley to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it is worth exploring what these officials have said and done about climate security in general, or particular aspects of it, while they’ve been in their current positions running the Army – including most recently during the confirmation process.
First, as Secretary of the Army, Dr. Esper submitted to Congress a top ten list of his most climate-vulnerable bases, focusing mostly on drought and desertification, and committed to “work closely with other leaders throughout the Department of Defense and with Congress to identify corrective actions and implement steps to enhance our readiness and capability in the face of climate related threats.” (more…)
The Security Threat of Extreme Heat
By
Heatwaves are all over the news this week. Forecasts indicate that two-thirds of the United States will experience a severe heatwave this weekend.
This comes days after the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued a new report on the topic. CBS News quoted the organization’s president in describing heatwaves as “one of the deadliest natural hazards facing humanity,” which “will only become more serious and more widespread as the climate crisis continues.” The report, which provides guidance to cities for mitigating the myriad health and other risks associated with this trend, states that “More intense and frequent heatwaves are already occurring in many parts of the world,” and with them come serious health consequences. (more…)
Femia on TRT World: The Strategic Benefit of Acting on Climate and Security
In an interview segment released yesterday by TRT World, Francesco Femia, the Co-Founder of the Center for Climate and Security and CEO of the Council on Strategic Risks, spoke with host Ghida Fakhry and WRI’s Rebecca Carter about the increasing evidence of a connection between climate change and conflict, the growing bipartisan consensus in the United States about the security risks of climate change, and the idea of action on climate and security as a strategic benefit for countries that wish to expand their leadership and influence. The interview begins at 17:45, below. (more…)
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