Project Links Global Warming to National Security Threats

Former Senator John Warner (R-VA) teamed up with the Pew Environment Group last week to announce a new project highlighting the links between national security threats and global warming.

"Leading military and security experts agree that if left unchecked, global warming could increase instability and lead to conflict in already fragile regions of the world," said Warner. "We ignore these facts at the peril of our national security and at great risk to those in uniform who serve this nation."

The project will bring together experts on science and military policy to evaluate joint strategies for preventing global warming and protecting national security interests.

This won't be the first venture to investigate the connection between climate change and national security: The National Intelligence Council, a projection arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, recently reported that global warming could threaten energy resources, damage military facilities, increase food shortages, and strain the economy, all of which would greatly burden national defense. Director Dennis Blair told Congress this year that "global climate change will have important and extensive implications for U.S. national security interests over the next 20 years."