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Global climate change has been identified as a serious national security threat that could have an impact not only on Americans at home, but also on U.S. military defense operations. As such, it could have a serious impact on construction regulations and opportunities.
According to “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change,” a study commissioned by a government-financed research center, there is strong support for a link between climate change and terrorism. The study states that climate change could heighten global tensions and competition over natural resources. To better inform U.S. policymakers and the public about the threats to national security from global climate change, a panel of retired senior military officers and national security experts assessed the national security implications of global climate change.
Their findings suggest that changes to existing weather patterns might cause shortages of food and water that could cause weak governments to collapse. It describes climate change as “a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world,” which will “seriously exacerbate already marginal living standards in many Asian, African and Middle Eastern nations, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states.”
The study suggests that climate change might spawn increasingly severe natural disasters that would draw U.S. forces into humanitarian missions in volatile areas and might create territorial disputes over shipping routes and natural resources altered by melting Arctic ice. The study pointed out that even the effectiveness of sonar used by American submarines could be at risk if parts of the oceans become less salty.
The 63-page report is available at http://securityandclimate.cna.org/report/.
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