Climate Change Poses Deadly Risk To Military, Experts Suggest Swift Action

Climate change could potentially cause great distress to military operations, according to U.S. military officials. They believe that climate change could increase international conflict in a statement by the Center for Climate and Security, which states that climate change could pose a strategic risk to military operation and that inaction is not advisable against the issue.

The statement was further endorsed by high-level former military and national security officials and are urging the new upcoming president to build a new cabinet to discuss the effects of climate change on national security, in a report by Fox News.

The Climate Security Consensus project, a bipartisan group, claims that climate change could affect water, food and energy supplies, which could in-turn result in "hard-to-predict" circumstances and security risks. Leaders behind the statement included Dr. Geoffrey Kemp, former special assistant to President Reagan for national security affairs and Dov S. Zakheim, former undersecretary of defence under President George W. Bush.

Some of the other risks mentioned in the statement, that climate change could be the cause of, included state failure, mass migration and the creation of ungoverned spaces, according to a report by ABC News.

Last year, the Department of Defence had said that climate change was a "threat multiplier", demanding greater humanitarian action and could lead to severe storms threatening military bases. High sea levels could damage coastal infrastructure and submerge small islands. This year in January, the Pentagon had all its officials prepare special considerations from weapons testing to preparing the army for war in the event of climate change.

The military is more concerned over the 1,774 military installations along the coasts which are operated from home and abroad as they more likely to experience the effects of climate change more than on land, since if one of those are soaked, it could prove to be dangerous for national security. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned that by 2050, a vast majority of coasts along the US will experience 30 or more days of intense flooding owing to the rising sea levels, reported The Guardian.