Militaries Must Prep for Climate Change, Kerry Says
by Kris Osborn
The increasing rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere brings with it threats of droughts, water shortages and other catastrophes that would have huge implications for national security on the planet, warned U.S. Sen. John Kerry in a Sept. 10 speech.
Competition for the increasingly scarce resources anticipated in years to come could further destabilize volatile regions of the world, the Democratic senator told students at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“Climate change injects a major new source of chaos, tension and human insecurity into an already volatile world. It threatens to bring more famine and drought, worse pandemics, more natural disasters, more resource scarcity, and human displacement on a staggering scale,” said Kerry at an event organized by the American Security Project.
Global warming trends are likely to further threaten security in strategic regions such as Asia and the Middle East, he said. “Scientists are now warning that the Himalayan glaciers, which supply water to almost a billion people from China to Afghanistan — including three nuclear powers — could disappear completely by 2035,” Kerry said. “At a moment when the American government is pouring troops and resources into Afghanistan and preparing to invest billions to strengthen Pakistan’s capacity to deliver for its people, it’s infuriating to think that climate change could work so powerfully against our long-term goals.” Kerry cited a host of examples that ranged from the melting of Arctic ice bridges to eroding coastline in such strategically vital areas as the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
“Norfolk, Virginia, home to our Atlantic Fleet, will be submerged by one meter of sea level rise. All of our Navy’s piers are actually cemented to the ocean floor — which means that any rise in sea level will literally require the Navy to rebuild all of them,” he said.
Kerry emphasized that it was time to act on numerous warnings in recent years from within military circles that global warming will have significant security con
