USA:s försvarsdepartement: klimatförändringarna ett hot mot säkerheten

Beskrivs som ”a threat multiplier”.
Tidigare i veckan publicerade det amerikanska försvarsdepartementet rapporten 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap (pdf). Här beskrivs vilka åtgärder som behöver sättas in för att det amerikanska försvaret ska kunna anpassa sig till de nya hot som följer av klimatförändringarna. I förordet står att läsa:

Among the future trends that will impact our national security is climate change. Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict. They will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources, and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe.
In our defense strategy, we refer to climate change as a “threat multiplier” because it has the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges we are dealing with today – from infectious disease to terrorism. We are already beginning to see some of these impacts.

Chuck Hagel, USA:s försvarsminister, säger i en artikel på departementets hemsida:
– Climate change is a global problem. Its impacts do not respect national borders. No nation can deal with it alone. Today I am meeting in Peru with Western Hemisphere defense ministers to discuss how we can work together to build joint capabilities to deal with these emerging threats.