The Consequential Challenges of Climate Change

• Main Author: Juedeman, Corry
• Other Authors: ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Meteorology; Stress Physiology; Defense Systems; *DROUGHT; *MILITARY PERSONNEL; *NATIONAL SECURITY; AFGHANISTAN; ARCTIC OCEAN; CLIMATE; CONFLICT; ENVIRONMENTS; GLOBAL; INSTABILITY; NATIONS; OILS; PRESIDENT(UNITED STATES); RACE RELATIONS; RELIGION; SEA LEVEL; TEMPERATURE; THREATS; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Climate change
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA553050; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA553050

President Obama stated in his 2010 National Security Strategy that the danger from climate change is real, urgent, and severe. Climate change serves as a threat multiplier , exacerbating existing problems such as poverty and racial or religious tensions and overwhelming governments of already fragile states. The resultant effect on U.S. national security is threefold. First, regional instability and failed or failing states lend themselves to an environment that radical extremists can then influence to advance their causes- such as seen in Afghanistan. Second, U.S. national security relies upon unfettered access to strategic resources such as oil, and conflict in nations holding these resources may be perilous to the U.S. economy. Finally, the United States will likely continue to be the preeminent first responder to humanitarian disasters worldwide. As the global temperature continues to rise and the effects of climate change multiply, the U.S. military, in particular, may find itself overextended providing humanitarian relief in multiple settings. This paper recommends improvements to a whole of U.S. government approach and enhanced partner nation engagement to successfully tackle the world-wide consequences of climate change.