Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Military's Latest Enemy: Climate Change

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-getting-hot-in-here dept.

Lasrick writes A surprising report from the Pentagon last month places climate change squarely among the seemingly endless concerns of the US military. Although a Wall Street Journal editorial misrepresented the report in an editorial (subtitled 'Hagel wants to retool the military to stop glaciers from melting'), the report itself is straightforward and addresses practical military issues such as land management of bases and training facilities. "So, this plan is not really about mobilizing against melting glaciers; it's more like making sure our ships have viable facilities from which to launch bombs against ISIS. And the report doesn't just focus on home, though. It casts a wider eye towards how a changing climate will affect defense missions in the future."

2 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Many potential impacts of climate change by AeroMed45N · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was my sense that the military was examining several factors that can impact their mission and ability to meet that mission over the coming decades. This includes not only the recognized increase in regional conflicts due to displacement of people by flooding and/or changes in food supplies due to climatic changes in rainfall patterns. It also includes thinking about the predictions for ocean rising and that impact on the bases that support the military around the world - naval bases, and airfields near current sea levels aren't something that one moves in a couple of years.

    And lastly, thinking about how the impact on troops and equipment might change - will there be more fighting in high heat locations? Heavy rain? What will be the impacts on availability of fuel sources and on supply chains?

    The military is a huge "ship" that takes much time to turn. Looking out a few decades and postulating what might be needed is not a bad exercise. They would be soundly criticized later if they hadn't. But it is interesting that the main military supports on the right are also the main body of climate change deniers, which puts the military in a dicey political environment. They need to prepare, but carefully.

    Is anyone surprised that a Rupert Murdoch owned paper decided to misrepresent what the military was doing about climate change?

    1. Re:Many potential impacts of climate change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The military is a huge "ship" that takes much time to turn.

      And that, right there, is why the military needs to be cut to a fraction of its current size.

      When World War II broke out, the US military was tiny - compared with its enemies', or with itself at any later time. Yet that was the war that established American world dominance. You don't win a major war by having the biggest army at the start, you win it by having the biggest economy. A military establishment that drains that economy is actually counter-productive to national security. (Just ask the Former Soviet Union.)