[CPEO-MEF] CLIMATE: "Hagel: Military Must Be 'Pro-Active' in Addressing 'Threat Multiplier' of Climate Change"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Hagel: Military Must Be 'Pro-Active' in Addressing 'Threat  
Multiplier' of Climate Change
Military must be ready at all times for 'instability,' Defense  
Secretary says

by Nadia Prupis
Common Dreams
October 13, 2014

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday issued a call to arms to the  
military to confront climate change, as rising sea levels and other  
threats could impair the military's operations and "sow the seeds of  
instability... from the spread of infectious diseases to spurring  
armed conflicts."

Addressing the Pentagon's new report on the issue at the Conference  
of the Defense Ministers of the Americas in Peru, Hagel said the  
Defense Department and other military services must start creating  
plans to deal with the possible effects of climate change on more  
than 7,000 bases and facilities around the world. Hagel expressed  
concern that rising sea levels could damage the military's regional  
training ranges and critical equipment. "Our militaries' readiness  
could be tested, and our capabilities could be stressed," he said.

"Climate change is a 'threat multiplier' because it has the potential  
to exacerbate many of the challenges we already confront today... and  
to produce new challenges in the future," Hagel said. "We must be  
clear-eyed about the security threats presented by climate change,  
and we must be pro-active in addressing them."

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/13/hagel-military-must-be- 
pro-active-addressing-threat-multiplierof-climate-change

To download the Defense Department's 2014 Climate Change Adaptation  
Roadmap, go to
www.acq.osd.mil/ie/download/CCARprint.pdf
‎

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org