The Worldwide Threat Assessment, compiled by the country’s intelligence agencies was discussed at Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Among the many threats examined are those presented and exacerbated by climate change.
Among the findings in the “Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community” is this passage: “Global environmental and ecological degradation, as well as climate change, are likely to fuel competition for resources, economic distress, and social discontent through 2019 and beyond. Climate hazards such as extreme weather, higher temperatures, droughts, floods, wildfires, storms, sea level rise, soil degradation, and acidifying oceans are intensifying, threatening infrastructure, health, and water and food security. Irreversible damage to ecosystems and habitats will undermine the economic benefits they provide, worsened by air, soil, water, and marine pollution.” (p. 23)
The document’s section on Human Security (pp. 21-23) covers the security concerns of climate change.
