The Pentagon issued a secret report to Bush warning him that catastrophic climate changes in the next 15 years are a bigger threat than terrorism, and will lead to massive riots and nuclear war.
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.
Link (Thanks, Tony!)
AndyHat sez: For those who want to make up their own minds about the Guardian story on the "suppressed" Pentagon report, Greenpeace has the full text available. Of course, as it says right at the top: "We have created a climate change scenario that although not the most likely, is plausible, and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately." I like how The Guardian has changed "plausible" but "not the most likely" to a statement of near certainty.
A Boing Boing Pal sez:The Pentagon climate change paper story is interesting – but not quite accurate. The more interesting story is how the European press distorted what was a very interesting piece on abrupt climate change into a would-be smoking gun for the Bush administration.
Initial press on the abrupt climate change paper was neutral. It was a scenario exercise written for Andy Marshall in the Pentagon, profiled a month ago in Fortune Magazine.
From that piece, here is the story in a nutshell:
"Three years ago Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld picked [Andrew Marshall] to lead a sweeping review on military "transformation," the shift toward nimble forces and smart weapons.
When scientists' work on abrupt climate change popped onto his radar screen, Marshall tapped another eminent visionary, Peter Schwartz, to write a report on the national-security implications of the threat. Schwartz formerly headed planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group and has since consulted with organizations ranging from the CIA to DreamWorks—he helped create futuristic scenarios for Steven Spielberg's film Minority Report. Schwartz and co-author Doug Randall at the Monitor Group's Global Business Network, a scenario-planning think tank in Emeryville, Calif., contacted top climate experts and pushed them to talk about what-ifs that they usually shy away from—at least in public.
The result is an unclassified report, completed late last year, that the Pentagon has agreed to share with FORTUNE. It doesn't pretend to be a forecast. Rather, it sketches a dramatic but plausible scenario to help planners think about coping strategies."
So a month later, the world press catches wind of the story and sensationalizes the hell out of it.
Headlines:
Agence France Presse: Leaked Pentagon report warns climate change may bring famine, war
The Observer: Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us: The US President has denied the existence of global warming. But a secret report predicts a looming catastrophe – a world riven with water wars, famine and anarchy
The story was picked up by Al Jazeera, Hindustan Times, Times of Oman, and more I'm sure.
That's just what landed in my inbox.
At this point the Oakland Tribune has the best coverage of the story – as well as the story behind the story.
