Military leaders: Climate strategy vital, not a political game

www.rawstory.com...

A panel of extraordinary military leaders—16 men and women generals and admirals, including prior commanders, commandants, and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—came to a pretty devastating conclusion recently about climate strategy.

The Military Advisory Board of the Center for Naval Analyses, a 70-year-old federally funded think tank, says that current actions by the United States and the international community are not sufficient for us to adapt to destabilization from climate change.

And it's only going to get worse. As the ocean currents change the weather is going to become more extreme and inhospitable.

The panel highlights the accelerated melting of “old ice” in the Arctic—probably because that region represents areas of disputed jurisdiction and the most imminent challenges in terms of climate strategy. Melting makes the Arctic more accessible to a wide variety of human activities, including shipping, resource extraction, fisheries, tourism, and other commerce. This activity level and the concomitant impacts will only accelerate in the coming decades. Neither the US nor the international community is prepared for the pace of change in the Arctic, the panel concludes.

I'm unsure if man is responsible for any climate change, but what ever is the eventual cause; it's going to impact coastal regions adversely!

The climate change is going to be a huge political football whether the military wants it or not.

originally posted by: olaru12
www.rawstory.com...

A panel of extraordinary military leaders—16 men and women generals and admirals, including prior commanders, commandants, and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—came to a pretty devastating conclusion recently about climate strategy.

The Military Advisory Board of the Center for Naval Analyses, a 70-year-old federally funded think tank, says that current actions by the United States and the international community are not sufficient for us to adapt to destabilization from climate change.

And it's only going to get worse. As the ocean currents change the weather is going to become more extreme and inhospitable.

The panel highlights the accelerated melting of “old ice” in the Arctic—probably because that region represents areas of disputed jurisdiction and the most imminent challenges in terms of climate strategy. Melting makes the Arctic more accessible to a wide variety of human activities, including shipping, resource extraction, fisheries, tourism, and other commerce. This activity level and the concomitant impacts will only accelerate in the coming decades. Neither the US nor the international community is prepared for the pace of change in the Arctic, the panel concludes.

I'm unsure if man is responsible for any climate change, but what ever is the eventual cause; it's going to impact coastal regions adversely!

The climate change is going to be a huge political football whether the military wants it or not.

Do you think the military backing action on climate change has anything to do with the massive efforts at social engineering in its favor?

It is clear to see when browsing the various opinion outlets (aka "news") that the "war on science", LOL, narrative is being pushed heavily with daily articles about some minor religious institution that is now "responsible" for the deaths of future people.

Or that many outlets have decided to abandon informative platforms in favor of (propaganda) emotionally appealing platforms such as showtime's yearsoflivingdangerously.com... .

Just curious.

-FBB

a reply to: FriedBabelBroccoli

This issue is to important to get mired down in political game playing.
I would hope that military concern could help this looming catastrophe form being propagandized. But politics being what they are; it will deteriorate into finger pointing and gridlock. At our peril...

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: FriedBabelBroccoli

This issue is to important to get mired down in political game playing.
I would hope that military concern could help this looming catastrophe form being propagandized. But politics being what they are; it will deteriorate into finger pointing and gridlock. At our peril...

Well do you have any data demonstrating that weather is actually becoming more extreme?

From what I have looked at, especially the CMIP5, it appears as though the actual weather is within historical ranges.

-FBB

Ahhhh.
Now it becomes clear why this administration has been getting rid of all the top military officers!
They probably didn't agree with this so they got ousted.
Quad

a reply to: olaru12
no matter the cause of climate change,its effects are being felt.I just read that Turkey cut off the water to Iraq and Syria.There's a reason for a war! The military has to plan for every type of conflict,so why not plan for water wars also?Droughts may cause food wars,refugee's fleeing,so on.

originally posted by: blkcwbyhat
a reply to: olaru12
no matter the cause of climate change,its effects are being felt.I just read that Turkey cut off the water to Iraq and Syria.There's a reason for a war! The military has to plan for every type of conflict,so why not plan for water wars also?Droughts may cause food wars,refugee's fleeing,so on.

For those who interested int the Turkey drought;

www.dw.de...

Turkey battles water shortage
Turkey has a serious water issue. The country is struggling with its worst drought in a decade. Climate change is only part of the reason; poor water management is also to blame.

. . .

"Istanbul's urban sprawl has overtaken fields, forests, wetlands and other areas where water resources lie," Sahin said. He admits that the Istanbul metropolitan municipality has begun to build dams and new water channels, but the population continues to grow and has prompted the city to begin rerouting water from sources outside the city, such as the Istranca Mountains near Bulgaria or the Melen River, which is about 180 kilometers away. As Sahin points out, that's scarcely sustainable, since it merely takes the water from some other eco-system.

The climate change aspect is hardly identified as the primary cause, it is far far far more strongly linked to poor water management similarly to California.

www.climateadaptation.eu...

Turkey is exposed to drought hazards rather frequently. Spatial and temporal analyses of drought hazards in Turkey have not yet been completed but, for instance, intensive drought periods in 1804, 1876 and 1928 caused the loss of crops and animals and the migration of farmers to other areas. In particular, drought in 1876 caused the loss of more than 200,000 people because of famine and disease epidemics.

Moreover, in 1915, the 1930s and between 1970 and 1974, Turkey experienced serious drought hazards. Also, 1988 and 1989 were the hardest drought years for the south-eastern Anatolia Region. The flow of the Euphrates River decreased to 50 m3/s in these drought years. It has been shown that river flows are decreasing according to the long-term average over most parts of Turkey (3).

Drought frequency

Since Turkey is located in the Mediterranean macroclimate region in the sub-tropical zone, great rainfall variations can be seen between the years. This causes regional and widespread droughts in various intensities. Thus, drought is one of the main problems for Turkey. On the most parts of the Central Anatolia Region which have 640 mm of annual average rainfall, recurrence period of drought conditions is more than 1 in 4 years (3).

But if you want it to be climate change I wont try and force you to look at historical precedent.

There is a reason the IPCC 2012 report left out the well documented history of drought in the region from prior to 1950 as the trend is actually a constant when full records are in place and only show increased frequency when taken from 1950 forward.

-FBB

The only logical strategy for the military on climate change at this point, is one that insures the survival of as many Americans as possible, secures major assets, and assures the continuity of government.

Adapting isn't going to be an option, ultimately the military is as vulnerable as all of the living souls in uniform, and under their watch.