The Pentagon and Climate Change

• Published in: Monthly Review
• Main Author: The Editors, -
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Monthly Review Foundation 2004
• Subjects: Climate Change; Ecology; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://monthlyreviewarchives.org/mr/article/view/MR-056-01-2004-05_1; https://doi.org/10.14452/MR-056-01-2004-05_1

Abrupt climate change has been a growing topic of concern for about a decade for climate scientists, who fear that global warming could shut down the ocean conveyer that warms the North Atlantic, plunging Europe and parts of North America into Siberian-like conditions within a few decades or even years. But it was only with the recent appearance of a Pentagon report on the possible social effects—in terms of instability and war—of abrupt climate change that it riveted public attention. As the Observer (February 22) put it, "Climate change over the next 20 years could result in global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters."This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.