The Pentagon has released a report on Monday showing that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security. The Defense Department also laid out its plans to show how the military will assess the risks to its operations.
The report highlighted that climate change can increase risks of terrorism, infectious disease, poverty and food shortages. The military is anticipating a higher demand because of these problems, so it started laying out a roadmap. The roadmap detailed how the military will respond to disasters brought on by climate change.
"The loss of glaciers will strain water supplies in several areas of our hemisphere," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a conference in Peru, quoted by the New York Times. "Destruction and devastation from hurricanes can sow the seeds for instability. Droughts and crop failures can leave millions of people without any lifeline, and trigger waves of mass migration."
As part of the military preparation efforts, the Pentagon has started assessing its 7,000 bases, installations, and other facilities to check if they are ready to face the four identified impacts of climate change: rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, increasing intense storms and rising sea levels.
Experts presumed that climate change has driven the youth to move within the Syrian countries to join extremists groups just to have a share of the water resources. The military is also monitoring high-risk regions, such as the Middle East and Africa, due to impending food shortages.
The report did not mention if the department will be requesting additional funding for the agenda, but the Republicans will undoubtedly question it if ever the proposal comes out. Republicans disapprove President Obama's focus on climate change, arguing that there are better projects that the government should be funding, according to Reuters.
"While scientists are converging toward consensus on future climate projections, uncertainty remains. But this cannot be an excuse for delaying action," Hagel said in a blog post.
