Climate Change Will Worsen Humanitarian Crises
As climate change begins to show its global effects, changing precipitation patterns and rising sea levels will bring with them an entirely new set of national security threats. Droughts in the southeastern United States and other areas of the world will render formerly arable lands agriculturally useless, spurring the migration of industry and people. Coupled with the migratory pressures of rising sea-levels in coastal regions, the world will experience refugees seeking asylum in unprecedented numbers.
The US military is called upon as the largest and most capable organization to respond to global humanitarian crises. As tens of millions are forced from their homes in search of food, or away from flooding, the US will be forced to deploy its armed forces around the world to distribute food, to prevent violence, and to stem the spread of terrorist cells in zones of weakened governments, and displaced and suffering people. The demand for our services, however, will increase substantially as climate change worsens, placing incredible strain on our troops.
In the United States, as storms like Katrina grow stronger and more prevalent, our men and women of the National Guard will be more often deployed away from their families to assist others around the country, leaving their home states powerless to fend off the forest fires occurring simultaneously.
We should help our country and our troops by stopping these crises from occurring in the first place.
