"Tribes are killing each other over water," said Defense Secretary Kerry in a recent interview. Most of us, with just a half-hearted attempt at informal research, are well aware of the local and national implications of climate change. It's incontrovertible that low-lying ocean-front homes and business on the East Coast are in trouble. But when the Pentagon gets in the business of assessing the problem, that's a different matter.
Here in the Midwest, Insurance companies, food companies and pet food companies have been adjusting strategy and acting on the assumptions and implications of climate change for years. Yeah, that's right--years. Grain buyers at Ralston Purina, the largest dry pet food company in the world, were making assessments and long-term purchase agreements based on climate change issues nearly twenty years ago. Of course, firms like that have meteorologists on their payroll. They recognize that smart grain planning is a significant competitive advantage. Knowing that climate will significantly impact their business, they can't afford to play the political games of climate skepticism to please the stupid and rack up more votes.
Pentagon report
As reported by Coral Davenport, the well-known energy and environment reporter, "The accelerating rate of climate change poses a severe risk to national security and acts as a catalyst for global political conflict," according to a military-research organization.
The impact study is lengthy and detailed:
Climate change-induced drought is leading to Middle East and Africa conflicts over water and food resources. That also includes coastal areas in eastern India, Bangladesh and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The consequence of that, which is already in play, is increased refugees.
A recent report also indicated that many arable areas of Africa have now been reduced to desert. Not just water, but also food are at issue.
The military is frustrated by the problem, and already planning for sea-level changes and storm surges around coastal areas for their own installations. Norfolk, Virginia, for example is the world's largest naval base and also home to nuclear submarine construction. That would impact jobs, and it would eventually have to go.
But the most significant issue the military will have to deal with is that "climate change is an active, driving force in starting conflict." There's a reason that many terrorists come from water-starved and food-starved areas of the globe.
Of course, the skeptics and crazies are still around. But as David Titley, a meteorologist and co-author of the military report, responded, the facts are indisputable: "The ice doesn't care about politics or who's caucusing with whom, or Democrats or Republicans."
I suspect that more and more it'll be a great time for architects, engineers and the construction industry. There's going to be a lot of rebuilding. And sustainability will factor into projects in unheard of forms.
Dollarphotoclub: Thomaz Kunst