Pentagon Concerned About Climate Change

The US Department of Defense released the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) today, outlining its strategy and priorities for 2010 and beyond. For the first time in its history, the report identified climate change as a threat to national security: "Assessments conducted by the intelligence community indicate that climate change could have significant geopolitical impacts around the world, contributing to poverty, environmental degradation, and the further weakening of fragile governments. Climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity, will increase the spread of disease and may spur or exacerbate mass migration." For commentary and a longer excerpt from the report, see Andy Revkin's blog post. And, for perspective, before you get too excited, see the article that DoD Secretary Robert Gates published today, and note that it does not mention climate change.