Ex-US Officers Warn of Climate Change Effects on Washington's Operations

A growing consensus exists in the bipartisan US national security community that climate change presents a strategically significant risk to national and international security, according to three new documents published by the Center of Climate and Security (CCS).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Climate change imposes critical threats on US military operations and could increase the chances of international conflicts and inaction is not a viable option, a group of top US former military and security experts warned on Wednesday, in three new documents published by the Center of Climate and Security (CCS).

"A growing consensus exists in the bipartisan US national security community that climate change presents a strategically significant risk to national and international security, and that more comprehensive action must be taken to ensure the US response is commensurate to the risk", a CCS report dubbed Briefing Book for A New Administration, said.

The CCS Advisory Group that consists of more than a dozen of military and national security officers, recommended that the new president pursue three key objectives in that respect that include, elevating attention to the security risks of climate change at all levels of national security planning, institutionalizing climate change and security concerns throughout government offices and integrating climate change and security concerns through government structures.

A similar report that researches the effects of sea level rise and its effects on US military missions, by a panel of retired military experts panel also published on Monday by CCS concluded that the US military's coastal military installations face the risk of climate change, in particular sea level rise and if not those risks were not mitigated, they might prohibit the military from fulfilling its missions.

"Indeed, climate change effects such as sea level rise are not just an installation and facility issue for US military forces. They also present operational and strategic risks, and these broader implications must be both better understood, planned for and prevented," the report said.

The CCS is a non-partisan security and foreign policy institute with a distinguished Advisory Board of military, security and foreign policy experts, which aims to explore the security risks of climate change.