A report commissioned by the United States Navy concludes that
climate change will pose profound challenges for the sea service
in coming decades, including a need to secure Arctic shipping
lanes, prepare for more frequent humanitarian missions and
protect coastal installations from rising seas. The 15-month
study, conducted by the National Research Council, accepts the
scientific consensus that the climate is changing and that the
effects are being felt now. Of particular consequence to
American naval forces – the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard –
are the melting polar ice cap, rising seas and increasingly
frequent severe storms and droughts that could lead to famine,
mass migration and political instability. The report from
research council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences,
builds on previous work by the Pentagon, State Department, the
intelligence community and independent research groups that have
concluded that climate change is a “threat multiplier” that adds
new and unpredictable dangers