‘BIGGEST WORRY’ IS CLIMATE CHANGE – U.S. NAVY

Chief of US Pacific forces calls climate biggest worry

Bryan Bender, March 9, 2013 (Boston Globe)

“…[ Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, the] top military officer in charge of monitoring hostile actions by North Korea, escalating tensions between China and Japan, and a spike in computer attacks traced to China provides…said significant upheaval related to the warming planet ‘is probably the most likely thing that is going to happen . . . that will cripple the security environment…You have the real potential here in the not-too-distant future of nations displaced by rising sea level. Certainly weather patterns are more severe than they have been in the past. We are on super typhoon 27 or 28 this year in the Western Pacific. The average is about 17.’

“…[Locklear’s headquarters] is assigned more than 400,00 military and civilian personnel…is responsible for operations from California to India…[and] is working with Asian nations to stockpile supplies in strategic locations and planning a major exercise for May with nearly two dozen countries…”

“…[In conjunction] with the Obama’ administration’s recent “pivot” to Asia — the recalibration of national security strategy after more than decade of war in the Middle East to reemphasize a region with rising military and economic powers such as China and India and where most US trade links are…[Locklear talked about]…disputes [between China and Japan] over islands in the South and East China Seas…[North Korea’s] recent long-range missile launch and underground nuclear test…[and cyberspace security]…

“But when it comes to pragmatic military planning, Locklear said he is increasingly focused on…[the ice melting and sea level rise because] 80 percent of the world’s population lives within 200 miles of the coast…The US military, he said, is beginning to reach out to other armed forces in the region about the ‘the imperative to kind of get military capabilities aligned [for] when the effects of climate change start to impact these massive populations…If it goes bad, you could have hundreds of thousands or millions of people displaced and then security will start to crumble pretty quickly.’”

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