“We will pay for this one way or another”
Even the US military recognize the importance of addressing climate change, if this panel of 11 retired generals is any guide. Rising sea levels must also be a threat to anyone tasked with running a naval base.
“Climate change threatens to prolong the war on terrorism and foster political instability that governments will be unable to cope with, an influential panel of 11 retired US generals has warned.
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The new US military report, commissioned by the government-financed Center for Naval Analyses, lays out strong support for a link between climate change and terrorism.
Admiral T. Joseph Lopez, the former commander-in-chief of US Naval Forces Europe and of Allied Forces, Southern Europe and a member of the panel, said: “Climate change can provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror. In the long term, we want to address the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit, but climate change will prolong those conditions. It makes them worse.”
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“We will pay for this one way or another,” said Anthony C. Zinni, former commander of US forcesin the Middle East. “We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we’ll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or, we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll.”
One of the recommendations of the military advisory panel was that “the US must commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilise climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability”.”