Randy McDonald ([info]rfmcdpei) wrote,
@ 2004-02-22 12:59:00
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Current mood: worried
Current music:Cast of Silence!, "In the Dark with a Maniac"

[ARTICLE] "Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us"
From The Guardian:

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

· Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
· Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism

Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in New York
Sunday February 22, 2004
The Observer

Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

Read more.




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[info]countess_sophia
2004-02-22 11:09 am UTC (link)
I think this affair is very interesting. While I think that global warming is a reality, and the consequences may be very bad, I thought that the most notable aspect of the report and the particular catastrophes it predicts is that it clearly implies more US military spending, which I would imagine would be why it was commissioned. I suspect that the US brass are actually not that displeased that it leaked, as it opens a chance to turn public debate on climate change to their advantage by exploiting fear and thus continue to justify bloated 'defence' budgets. The opportunity to stick one to Bush, who has annoyed them greatly, would be an added benefit.

Soph xx

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Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-02-22 11:14 am UTC (link)
The opportunity to stick one to Bush, who has annoyed them greatly, would be an added benefit.

Oh. I hadn't seen that one coming.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]talktooloose
2004-02-22 12:54 pm UTC (link)
How secret was this? My bf read it in Fortune Magazine 3 weeks ago. Same leak?

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Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-02-22 02:14 pm UTC (link)
Quite possibly. It's certainly interesting if this is a military leak.

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[info]schizmatic
2004-02-22 02:01 pm UTC (link)
Watch the oceans. If they keep sucking up excess carbon, we've got a few decades to figure this out. If they reach a saturation point some time in the future, things will get very ugly indeed.

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Re:
[info]rfmcdpei
2004-02-22 02:15 pm UTC (link)
Indeed. Ever read John Barnes' Mother of Storms? Methane clathrates on the sea floor melting is all we'd need.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]halibut
2004-02-23 04:42 am UTC (link)
My major concern is that it wouldn't take all that much temperature change to seriously disrupt Europe. The arctic ice cap _is_ melting (based on a small change) -- hence danger of ocean current disruption, shifting of Gulf Stream and freezing of Europe.

And I promise I hadn't read this before making my comment about Kyoto earlier!

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