One report is by a military research organization and its Military Advisory Board, a panel of retired high-ranking officers from all four branches of the US armed forces. Another is the Quadrennial Defense Review, a report on US military doctrine published by the Pentagon. According to the latter,
These [warming] effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad, such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tensions—conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.
Also quoted in the Times piece is a Pentagon official overseeing installations and environment: "We are actively integrating climate considerations across the full spectrum of our activities to ensure a ready and resilient force."
Plans are also being made by many of the largest US corporations, including the major petroleum firms, for expected penalties on carbon emissions as things worsen (see Dec. 10, 2013, blog post).
However, according to repeated polls by Gallup and Pew, the percentage of Americans who accept both that there is a warming trend and that the phenomenon is due to human activity remains at around 40 percent. In general, Americans aren't terribly worried about the issue, with politics and lobbying being the principal cause of this lack of engagement, namely, party ideology and industrial propaganda.
Yet, there is some good news. "Young Americans aged 18 to 29," reports Gallup, "are more worried about global warming than older adults, particularly those 50 and older." The conclusion: "If these young people hold on to these attitudes as they age, and if future generations of Americans hold the same levels of higher concern, then the nation's overall levels of worry about warming will rise."
Let's hope the subsequent generations—who will bear the brunt of their forebears' ignorance and lack of foresight—will be wiser. They might not have a choice.
