Climate change risks US bases, fuels social disorder: top admiral

Climate change and a deteriorating environment are likely to fuel social disorder and could threaten some US military bases, a top admiral said Tuesday.

Admiral Philip Davidson, who heads the US military's vast Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers he concurred with a recent assessment from the US intelligence community that listed climate change as a global threat.

"The immediate manifestation is the number of ecological disaster events that are happening," Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The intelligence report states: "Damage to communication, energy, and transportation infrastructure could affect low-lying military bases, inflict economic costs, and cause human displacement and loss of life."

When Senator Elizabeth Warren, a top Democrat who is running for president in 2020, asked if he agreed, Davidson said "yes ma'am," and went on to describe a recent mission in Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where US troops helped clear up after Super Typhoon Yutu.

The United States is one of a dwindling number of nations where climate change and its impacts are politicized, and the Republican Party is loath to take action to reduce carbon emissions.

President Donald Trump, who has previously called climate change a Chinese hoax, has delighted in dismissing the phenomenon. During a record cold spell last month he joked on Twitter that the world needed more global warming.

The Pentagon recently put out its own climate change report, which critics slammed as understating the scope of the problem.

That report looked at 79 "priority" facilities around the US and found many vulnerable to flooding and wildfires, as well as the impacts of desertification, drought and melting permafrost.

Hurricane Michael last year wrecked Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. It will cost more than $5 billion to rebuild.

Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Last 4 years hottest on record, UN confirms
Paris (AFP) Feb 6, 2019
The last four years were the hottest since global temperature records began, the UN confirmed Wednesday in an analysis that it said was a "clear sign of continuing long-term climate change." The UN's World Meterological Organization said in November that 2018 was set to be the fourth warmest year in recorded history, stressing the urgent need for action to rein in runaway planetary warming. On Wednesday it incorporated the final weeks of last year into its climate models and concluded that aver ... read more