Posted on 04/22/2014 11:46:58 AM PDT by machogirl
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just completed a series of landmark reports that chronicle an update to the current state of consensus science on climate change. Its conclusion: On our current path, climate change could pose an irreversible, existential risk to civilization as we know it, but we can still fix it if we decide to work together.
But in addition to the call for cooperation, the reports also shared an alarming new trend: Climate change is already destabilizing nations and leading to wars.
That finding was highlighted in last week's premiere of Showtime's climate change docu-drama series "Years of Living Dangerously." In the first episode, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman traveled to Syria to investigate how a long-running drought has contributed to that conflict. Climate change has also been discussed as a "threat multiplier" for recent conflicts in Darfur, Tunisia, Egypt, and future conflicts, too.
Climate change worsens the divide between haves and have-nots, hitting the poor the hardest. It can also drive up food prices and spawn mega-disasters, creating refugees and taxing the resiliency of governments.
When a threat like that comes along, it's impossible to ignore. Especially if your job is national security.
In a recent interview with the blog Responding to Climate Change, retired Army Brig. Gen. Chris King laid out the military's thinking on climate change: "This is like getting embroiled in a war that lasts 100 years. That's the scariest thing for us. There is no exit strategy that is available for many of the problems."
In a similar vein, last month retired Navy Rear Adm. David Titley co-wrote an op-ed for Fox News: "The parallels between the political decisions regarding climate change we have made and the decisions that led Europe to World War One are striking — and sobering. The decisions made in 1914 reflected political policies pursued for short-term gains and benefits, coupled with institutional hubris, and a failure to imagine and understand the risks or to learn from recent history."
In short, climate change could be the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the 21st century.
Earlier this year, while at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting in Atlanta, I spoke with Titley, who is also a meteorologist and now serves on the faculty at Penn State University. He went from being a climate-change skeptic to labeling it "one of the pre-eminent challenges of our century."
Excerpts of our interview:
Must have been an offer he “couldn’t refuse”.
You fight the good fight in your way, and I’ll fight mine in mine. ;-)
lol
UN reports. ROTFL! That’s funny! I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. Everyone freeloading off the UN should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. They’re all a bunch of incompetent commie freeloaders.
lol, thanks. I didn’t read that as a code word.
lol, agree
When even the census is politicized, what does anyone expect ?
“Climate Change” is a religion.
agree, Now I have no “hope” and no “change” left. I expect this “climate change industry” will eventually hit the maximum absorption and sink, but not before max redistribution of money from the taxpayers is reached.
Global Warming policy is indisputably destabilizing the third world.
The EPA mandated use of ethanol in gasoline motor fuel has quadrupled the price of a bushel of grain world wide and has diverted food crops into fuel production
This is bankrupting third world countries such as Egypt that need to buy grain to feed their populations
In a world where starvation due to food shortage and high cost , diverting corn production to ethanol for auto fuel is immoral and counterproductive
US Military replacing ALL Vehicles with Mountain Bikes
of course. consulting gigs, speaking fees, lectureships, appointments to corporate boards...but you have to make the correct noises.
Yes, and the bottomless well of media propping and White House/Administration BS.
Speak out against the charlatans and get “Mark Steyned”.
I wonder if I just stood in a crowd used to spoon-fed pablum, and shouted, “Green energy”, “global warming”, “climate change”, I would be given speaking gigs like Van Jones?
Absolutely
In short, climate change could be the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the 21st century.No, the climate change hoaxers are the assassins.
welcome
Unicorns causing the world to come ‘unglued’ by stealing oxygen. Are unicorns destroying crops too?
More cuts to the military are needed to 'cover the minor costs' of important unicorn research. SAVE THE WORLD - support unicorn research.
Sure, why not? Perhaps we can get a grant for that?
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