Nation's Spies: Climate Change Could Spark War

[Ian David]

By Noah Shachtman EmailJune 23, 2008 | 2:44:00 PMCategories: Cammo Green

Environmental groups have been warning for years that global climate change could make already-tense parts of the world even worse, and even spark whole new conflicts. Now, the nation's spies are saying pretty much the same thing.

The U.S. intelligence community has finished up its classified assessment of how our changing weather patterns could contribute to "political instability around the world, the collapse of governments and the creation of terrorist safe havens," Inside Defense reports. Congress was briefed on the report last week. And on Wednesday, leading spies -- including National Intelligence Council chairman Dr. Thomas Fingar and Energy Department intelligence chief Rolf Mowatt-Larsen -- will testify on the Hill about the 58-page document, "The National Security Implications of Global Climate Change Through 2030."

In addition to examining how weather could add stress to governments with a weak grip on power ... the authors mulled a spectrum of second- and third-order consequences for Washington policymakers to consider -- including indirect security concerns like impacts on economies, energy, social unrest and migration.

Foreign-policy concerns were also weighed, including how flooding, rising water levels or drought might create humanitarian crises. Also examined was how extreme weather events could challenge the response capabilities of governments around the world.


"Climate change is a threat multiplier in the world's most unstable regions," a source familiar with the document tells Danger Room. "It's like a match to the tinder." Just think about the fights over water already under way in the Middle East and Africa, or the tensions exacerbated by the hurricanes and tsunamis in Asia.

More:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/environmental-g.html

Have I mentioned that 74% of Congressional Republicans are Global Warming Deniers?

See also:

26 Percent Of Congressional Republicans Believe Global Warming Is Man-Made
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/09/26-percent-of-congression_n_106070.html