Climate Changes & Environmental Issues

ABSTRACT
It was really a turning point in the global awareness on the huge threats coming from climate
change impacts and the necessity to face it globally when the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change "IPCC" has published at Dec. 2007 in Bali, its Fourth Assessment Report on
climate change. Climate change plays a significant role in shaping the future security, as it
provides several challenges, such as energy security, and economic stability. Thus many
actions have to be taken now to re spond effectively to these challenges in the near term and in
the future. A warming world also raises the possibility of more geopolitical conflict by
making worse existing problems like poverty, environmental degradation and food and water
security. While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of
instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries
around the world. In addition, extreme weather events may lead to increased demands f or
defense support to civil authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response. In some
nations, the military is the only institution with the capacity to respond to a large -scale natural
disaster. Climate change will also have a direct impact on military facilities and capabilities,
due its impacts like sea level rise, drought, increasing temperature, disease transmission by
faster growth rates of pathogens in the environment and more efficient and abundant vectors
(such as insects). Thus it will be needed to boost abilities to work on improving
communications, search-and-rescue capabilities and forecasting techniques and ways to adapt
with these impacts and to mitigate it. As energy security, is the opposite side of the climate -
change coin it is needed to adopt a variety of measures aimed at reducing dependence on
fossil fuel and carbon emissions: investing in renewable sources like solar, wind, geothermal
and biomass energy installations; switching to vehicles powered by alternative fuels; and
exploring the potential for new technologies like better batteries. In fact, such programmes are
not only good for the environment, but also for reducing the risks and expenses created by the
military’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels.