White Paper: Climate Change Poses Significant Challenges

The Pentagon and other agencies responsible for protecting national security would be wise to factor projected changes in climate, a white paper prepared by retired flag-rank officers advised. Prepared for CNA Corporation, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank, the document outlines insufficient efforts by the U.S. and other nations to come to terms with the long-term effects of climate change on existing infrastructures. Its publication follows a similar document CNA produced in 2007, which outlined preliminary concerns about climate change. In the new document, its authors stated that the changes they were worried about in 2007 are taking place more rapidly than they had projected then. Population growth – particularly in coastal areas and cities, and “complex changes in the global security environment” already are affecting demands for water, food and energy, the new paper, published in May, stated. Its authors recommended that military commanders consider climate change “across their full spectrum of planning and operations.” They advised the Defense Department to conduct thorough assessments of climate change on mission and operational resilience, and plan operations according to those assessments. The full report is available online at http://www.cna.org/reports/accelerating-risks.