The Pentagon will be monitoring melting of ice in the Arctic.
Forget ISIS. Move over nuclear threat. The Pentagon’s newest mission isn’t Syria, Iraq or Iran but rather: monitoring the level of melting ice in the Arctic.
The Government Accountability Office reported the Pentagon has just been tasked by the Obama administration to keep a tight watch on “the changing Arctic conditions.”
If melting occurs at too great a pace, military members could be sent to the scene to scrutinize the situation, the report suggested.
“Decreasing seasonal sea ice in the Arctic has made some Arctic waters navigable for longer periods and, as a result, may contribute to new economic opportunities in commercial shipping, oil exploration and tourism,” the GAO study said. “This could eventually increase the need for a U.S. military and homeland security presence in the Arctic, particularly in the maritime environment.”
The report said the changing climate and uncertainties in sea ice models has made it difficult for the Department of Defense to properly operate in the region.
“DOD plans to mitigate this risk by monitoring the changing Arctic conditions to determine the appropriate timing for capability investment,” the report said.
The report comes about a year after Secretary of State John Kerry claimed climate change was as big a threat to the world as terrorism. Speaking to students in Jakarta, Indonesia, he called climate change “the greatest challenge of our generation,” CNN reported.
In January, at his State of the Union, President Obama said similarly and added: “The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it,” he said.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2015/06/22/obama-orders-pentagon-to-measure-melting-ice/
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