A complex climate threat
The U.S. intelligence community is laboring to understand how the vast array of changes being brought on by climbing global temperatures will affect American interests at home and abroad.
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Recent Articles
Reaction to Global Warning project
By Heather Somerville Medill National Security Reporting Project Reporting from Washington “I think student journalists don’t often get the respect that working journalists get. I think we proved that when you have all the pieces in place, have the right students and have the right topic, you can do innovative stuff.” — Heather Somerville, a […]
Blind to the threat
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Satellite observation is vital to understanding climate change and the threat it poses to national security, but the U.S. government has ignored warnings that the aging environmental satellite system is close to collapse. Now the Obama administration wants to make up for lost time — but increased satellite spending will face some Republicans in Congress who call climate change a hoax.
Losing the Andes glaciers
HUARAZ, Peru — U.S. officials have called climate change in South America a national security threat, but little has been done. Rapid glacier melt in the Andes is a leading example; how the U.S. chooses to respond will affect the region’s stability, and Americans’ national security.
Our man in the greenhouse
WASHINGTON–Drought, crop losses and natural disasters breed state instability,violence and extremism, and climate change stands to make bad situations worse. But current and former national security officials say the U.S. government needs to know a lot more to prepare for the coming threat.
Houston oil infrastructure exposed to storms
HOUSTON- Lessons from Hurricane Ike reveal weaknesses in Houston’s defenses against storms and rising sea water. Climate scientists and storm modelers expect the effects of climate change to make crucial energy infrastructure there more vulnerable.
Disease: A top U.S. security threat
WASHINGTON–The U.S. is just getting started on dealing with the potential health impacts of climate change, according to some experts and U.S. officials, who say it could contribute to the dangerous spread of infectious diseases and possibly pandemics
U.S. military grasps effects of the rising tide
RAJENDRAPUR, Bangladesh–Experts say sea level rise could engulf 17 percent of Bangladesh’s landmass and displace 20 million people by 2050. The U.S. military is just now acknowledging that such 21st century challenges will require large-scale humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.
Arctic military posturing heats up
KODIAK, Alaska–While many of the national security threats posed by climate change exist in the realm of the future, the changes in the Arctic are happening right now —but some say the U.S. government is unprepared for the challenges they bring.