Environment & Climate Change

5 Items

3rd Marine Division in Vietnam in 1968

U.S. Military Photograph, DOD Media

Analysis & Opinions - PRI's The World

The Stuff of Life and Death: Part II

May 04, 2021

At one point in human history, water’s importance in war went beyond bearing convoys, hiding submarines, and slaking soldiers’ thirst. Water was often itself a weapon. In areas where it was scarce, armies took action to make it scarcer to force besieged enemy cities to capitulate, and in areas where it was abundant, combatants destroyed dams and watched the resulting floods carry their adversaries away. Today, however, most combatants recoil at the use of water as a weapon, and only the most depraved deploy it.

N.Y. National Guardsmen prepare to pump gas as up to 10 gal. of gas is given away in Queens, N.Y., Nov. 3, 2012, after Superstorm Sandy. The U.S. Dept. of Defense provided the trucks which are deployed in coordination with the N.Y. National Guard.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Boston Globe

After Sandy, Environmentalists, Military Find Common Cause

| November 5, 2012

"Today, one hurricane (or tornado or fire or drought) does not constitute proof of climate change, but to deny the cumulative impact of extreme weather on geopolitics is no longer tenable. Changes in the environment will exacerbate destabilization in areas of deep strategic importance to the United States, including Asia, the Middle East, the Arctic, and Latin America. Facing increased temperatures, people will have to move to avoid rising sea water, tidal infiltrations, or arid soil; they will be searching for water, food, and space. The movement of people, and the fights between them over commodities, have been the causes of many wars."

President Bush, flanked by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaks at the Pentagon on Nov. 29, 2007.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Stop Getting Mad, America. Get Smart

| December 10, 2007

"...security threats are no longer simply military threats. China is building two coal-fired power plants each week. U.S. hard power will do little to curb this trend, but U.S.-developed technology can make Chinese coal cleaner, which helps the environment and opens new markets for American industry

In a changing world, the United States should become a smarter power by once again investing in the global good — by providing things that people and governments want but cannot attain without U.S. leadership."

The Washington Post

Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Must We Wait for the Nuclear Morning After?

| April 30, 1995

What is the message of the Oklahoma City bombing for American national security? First, the oft-repeated assertion that with the end of the Cold War, the United States faces no direct or immediate threat to our security at home is dead wrong. As the most open society on a shrinking globe, America's democracy is also most vulnerable to terrorists' attacks. Such actions threaten not only our security but also our freedom.