SoylentNews

US Military Could Collapse Within 20 Years Due to Climate Change

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday October 27 2019, @11:07PM   
from the or-not dept.

coolgopher writes:

A story notes that

[...] according to a new U.S. Army report, Americans could face a horrifically grim future from climate change involving blackouts, disease, thirst, starvation and war. The study found that the US military itself might also collapse. This could all happen over the next two decades, the report notes.

[...] The report paints a frightening portrait of a country falling apart over the next 20 years due to the impacts of climate change on "natural systems such as oceans, lakes, rivers, ground water, reefs, and forests.

Current infrastructure in the US, the report says, is woefully underprepared: "Most of the critical infrastructures identified by the Department of Homeland Security are not built to withstand these altered conditions."

---

Original Submission

• Re:Oh come on! Re:Oh come on! (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 28 2019, @12:23PM (1 child)

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Monday October 28 2019, @12:23PM (#912750) Journal

  Yes, it does correlate. More, it seems that climate and weather pattern changes are actually causitive.

  It's a lot easier to response to climate/weather change when you have a much smaller population and a competent government.

  That assertion requires some serious research. China has a long history, after all. Some dynasties were more beneficient than others, but they all fall when they are not capable of providing for the people's overall survival and security. That is, when starvation and serious malnutrition reach some undefined level, the people are going to overthrow the government, no matter how competent.

  Which, brings into question, how the hell does N. Korea continue to exist, if starvation runs rampant frequently? I suppose control of the news has a lot to do with that . . .

  BTW, like most all the rest of the world, overpopulation has only been a problem in China for the past ~200 years. Only in smaller, localized areas has overpopulation been a serious problem prior to about 1800.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		2

• Re:Oh come on! (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 29 2019, @03:02AM

  by khallow (3766) on Tuesday October 29 2019, @03:02AM (#913107) Journal

  My point here is that you're ignoring the relative fragility of Chinese society which is not constant. High population densities are going to be more sensitive to climate/weather changes than low population densities. Similarly, corrupt, stagnant Chinese leadership and infrastructure is going to be more sensitive than more competent Chinese leadership. A society which can endure and rebuild better to any adversity is going to do better in extreme weather and climate events.
  
  My view is that fragile societies are more of a threat to our future than climate change will be. Here's a relevant example. In the past few months, someone (JoeMerchant maybe?) was claiming to me that regulation shouldn't be cut back in case of emergency because the bad actors would delay restoration of the regulations as long as possible (and then gave a Houston refineries after a hurricane example, which is what makes me think it was JoeMerchant). That sort of stubborn nuttery introduces a great deal of fragility into a society since it greatly reduces the ability of societies to respond to disaster.
  
  In other words, he was willing to destroy the ability of his society's ability to respond to disaster because following rules he liked was more important than having a future.
  
  To borrow from a similar saying, you can't control disasters very well. But you can control your response to disasters. Climate changes happen. Our ability to cope with those climate changes is far more important than whether the change happens.

  Parent