Panel says climate change poses security threat

Changes in Earth's climate portend a serious threat to U.S. national security because they are exacerbating problems that lead to massive migration, increased border tensions, and conflicts over essential resources like food and water, according to a report from a diverse group of retired senior admirals and generals.

"We are not your traditional environmentalists," said retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan, a former chief of staff of the Army and chairman of the advisory board that prepared the report for CNA Corp., a nonprofit research organization that includes the Center for Naval Analyses and the Institute for Public Research. Sullivan and other board members spoke at a press conference Monday announcing the board's findings.

Mitigating the worst consequences of global climate change will require nations to reduce their global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Sullivan. "There is a relationship between our carbon emissions and our national security," he said.

Board member retired Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, former commander in chief of U.S. Pacific Command and former ambassador to China, said the United States has not systematically grappled with the relationship between national security, climate change and dependence on foreign energy supplies.

"We must commit to solving these issues and taking a leadership position," Prueher said. "On the issue of carbon emissions, it doesn't help us to solve our problem if China doesn't solve theirs. And that means we need to engage with them on many fronts."

Many of the security implications of climate change are indirect, said retired Air Force Gen. Charles F. Wald, former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, which also is responsible for U.S. forces in Africa. Changes in climate have contributed to shortages of food, potable water and farmland in parts of Africa, straining local economies, weakening governments, fueling conflicts and forcing masses of people to migrate elsewhere for survival.

Why should Americans care, beyond basic humanitarian reasons? "We import more oil from Africa than from the Middle East, and that share will grow," Wald said. "We'll be drawn into the politics of Africa to a much greater extent."

The military itself will face challenges resulting from global warming. The board warned that rising sea levels could threaten coastal bases at home and abroad, increasing storm activity could interfere with the military's ability to perform routine maintenance and training, changing ocean salinity could impair sonar and submarine systems, drought conditions could impose new demands for moving water to U.S. troops in war zones, and the military increasingly will need to respond to humanitarian disasters.

Sullivan said the board hopes that the report will spark action among military and political leaders. "We can't wait until we have absolute [scientific] certainty," regarding the causes of climate change, he said. "If we wait, we might wait too long."