Global Climate Change & U.S. Security Interests

Changes in climate patterns and their impact on the physical environment can create profound effects on populations in parts of the world and present new challenges to global security and stability. Failure to anticipate and mitigate these changes increases the threat of more failed states with the instabilities and potential for conflict inherent in such failures. Because of the increasing importance of climate change on U.S security, this book examines the need to adapt, manage, and mitigate these consequences. An overview of the impacts of climate change over recent decades is discussed with a focus on the political consequences of climate change as it relates to national and international security, with special attention to the African continent due to the vulnerability of African nations with high potential to intersect with U.S. national interests.