National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract No. N00014-05-G-0288, DO #25 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of the Navy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR U.S. NAVAL FORCES
FRANK L. BOWMAN,
Strategic Decisions, LLC,
Co-Chair
ANTONIO J. BUSALACCHI, JR.,
University of Maryland,
Co-Chair
ARTHUR B. BAGGEROER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CECILIA M. BITZ,
University of Washington
SHARON E. BURKE,
Center for a New American Security (through June 22, 2010)
RONALD FILADELFO,
Center for Naval Analyses
JEFFREY M. GARRETT,
Mercer Island, Washington
HARRY W. JENKINS, JR.,
Gainesville, Virginia
CATHERINE M. KELLEHER,
University of Maryland and Brown University
MAHLON C. KENNICUTT II,
Texas A&M University
RONALD R. LUMAN,
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
W. BERRY LYONS,
Ohio State University
JAMES J. McCARTHY,
Harvard University
MICHAEL J. McPHADEN,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
JOHN H. MOXLEY III,
Solvang, California
DAVID J. NASH,
Dave Nash & Associates, LLC
HEIDI C. PERRY,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
J. MARSHALL SHEPHERD,
University of Georgia
CHARLES F. WALD,
Deloitte Services, LLP
DAVID A. WHELAN,
The Boeing Company
CARL WUNSCH,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Staff
CHARLES F. DRAPER, Director,
Naval Studies Board
BILLY M. WILLIAMS, Study Director
RAYMOND S. WIDMAYER, Senior Program Officer
MARTA V. HERNANDEZ, Associate Program Officer
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
SEKOU O. JACKSON, Senior Program Assistant
SIDNEY G. REED, JR., Consultant
NAVAL STUDIES BOARD
MIRIAM E. JOHN,
Livermore, California,
Chair
DAVID A. WHELAN,
The Boeing Company,
Vice Chair
CHARLES R. CUSHING, C.R.
Cushing & Co., Inc.
SUSAN HACKWOOD,
California Council on Science and Technology
LEE M. HAMMARSTROM,
Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University
JAMES L. HERDT,
Chelsea, Alabama
KERRIE L. HOLLEY,
IBM Global Services
BARRY M. HOROWITZ,
University of Virginia
JAMES D. HULL,
Annapolis, Maryland
LEON A. JOHNSON,
Irving, Texas
EDWARD H. KAPLAN,
Yale University
CATHERINE M. KELLEHER,
University of Maryland and Brown University
JERRY A. KRILL,
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
THOMAS V. McNAMARA,
Textron Systems Corporation
JOSEPH PEDLOSKY,
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
HEIDI C. PERRY,
Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
GENE H. PORTER,
Nashua, New Hampshire
JOHN S. QUILTY,
Oakton, Virginia
J. PAUL REASON,
Washington, D.C.
JOHN E. RHODES,
Balboa, California
JOHN P. STENBIT,
Oakton, Virginia
TIMOTHY M. SWAGER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JAMES WARD,
Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ELIHU ZIMET,
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Navy Liaison Representatives
RADM BRIAN C. PRINDLE,
USN, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N81
RADM NEVIN P. CARR, JR.,
Chief of Naval Research/Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, N091
Marine Corps Liaison Representative
LTGEN GEORGE J. FLYNN,
USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command
Staff
CHARLES F. DRAPER, Director
RAYMOND S. WIDMAYER, Senior Program Officer
BILLY M. WILLIAMS, Senior Program Officer
MARTA V. HERNANDEZ, Associate Program Officer
SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Coordinator
MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer
SEKOU O. JACKSON, Senior Program Assistant
SIDNEY G. REED, JR., Consultant
Preface
A 2007 report by the CNA Corporation, based on a study conducted by former flag and general officers, concluded that worldwide climate effects could have major consequences for the military.1 In testimony provided before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in May 2007, it was noted that “projected climate change poses a serious threat to America’s national security; climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world; projected climate change will add to tensions even in stable regions of the world; and climate change, national security and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges.”2 More recently the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), conducted internally by the Department of Defense (DOD) to identify military capabilities that could contribute to fulfilling U.S. national security needs, stated that “climate change and energy will play significant roles in the future security environment.”3
The National Academies4 has undertaken a number of completed and recently initiated activities aimed at examining climate change. In particular, in response to Public Law 110-161, the National Academies is undertaking a series of coor-
dinated activities—known collectively as America’s Climate Choices (ACC)—to study the serious and sweeping issues associated with global climate change, including the science and technology challenges involved. The ACC studies are an effort to provide advice on the most effective steps and most promising strategies that can be taken to respond to global climate change. In short, the ACC suite of activities will produce a broad, action-oriented, and authoritative set of analyses to inform and guide responses to climate change across the nation.5
Outside of the National Academies, a number of organizations are likewise examining climate change, most notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, which was formed in 1988 under the auspices of the United Nations. Since its inception, the IPCC’s function has been to provide assessments of the science of climate change. In 2007, it released its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), which noted among its many findings that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increase in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level.”6
Accordingly, what does climate change mean for the U.S. naval forces (i.e., the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard); and, specifically, what does climate change mean for U.S. naval forces in terms of the national security implications? To understand this question in greater depth and in conjunction with the Navy’s efforts with respect to the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) tasked the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and CNA to undertake separate studies.7 The CNAS study, recently completed after a 3-month duration, was aimed at examining the national security implications of climate change through a strategic lens. The CNA study, completed in 2009 after a 6-month duration, focused on the operational implications for the Navy as a result of increased maritime activity in the Arctic region.8
5 |
The initial four reports from the America’s Climate Choices (ACC) studies are these: National Research Council, 2010, Advancing the Science of Climate Change, Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change, Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, and Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. Additional information on the ACC studies is available at http://americasclimatechoices.org. Accessed June 4, 2010. |
6 |
See Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007, “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis,” Working Group I contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Susan Solomon, Dahe Qin, Martin Manning, Zhenlin Chen, Melinda Marquis, Kristen B. Averyt, Melinda M.B. Tignor, and Henry LeRoy Miller [eds.]), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York. |
7 |
During the CNO Executive Board meeting in May 2009, the CNO directed the Oceanographer of the Navy to establish and lead Task Force Climate Change in order to develop a comprehensive approach to guide the Navy’s future public, strategic, and policy discussions. See Vice Chief of Naval Operations (ADM Jonathan W. Greenert, USN), Memorandum 4000 Ser N09/9U103035, “Task Force Climate Change Charter,” Washington, D.C., October 30, 2009. |
8 |
See Center for a New American Security, 2008, Uncharted Waters, The U.S. Navy and Navigating Climate Change, Washington, D.C., December; and Michael D. Bowes, 2009, Impact of Climate |
In a letter to the president of the National Academy of Sciences, the CNO requested that the Naval Studies Board (NSB) begin a new critical-area study in fiscal year (FY) 2009 examining the global implications of climate change for the naval services.9 In essence, the NSB study would follow on the heels of the CNAS and CNA reports. It would leverage these and other study insights along with the expertise and experience of the National Academies in the area of climate change. Moreover, certain areas from the CNAS and CNA reports either have not been considered or have not been explored in depth because of study duration. These areas are included in the investigation by the NSB in order to provide a thorough assessment of the national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The letter dated September 12, 2008, from ADM Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, to Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, requested that the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Naval Studies Board (NSB) conduct a comprehensive study on the national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces (i.e., the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and other subsequent relevant literature.10
Accordingly, the NRC, under the auspices of its NSB, established the Committee on National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces in September 2009.11 The study’s terms of reference, formulated by the CNO’s staff in consultation with the NSB chair and director, charge the committee to produce two reports over a 15-month period. The first report produced by the committee was a letter report that summarized the immediate challenges in each of the four areas of the terms of reference (see Box P.1). Specifically, the letter report highlighted issues brought to the committee’s attention during its first three meetings that could have potential near-term impacts, impose a need for near-term awareness, or require near-term planning to ensure that longer-term naval capabilities are protected. The requested letter report was delivered to the CNO and other naval leadership stakeholders in April 2010.12
After completing its letter report and conducting additional data gathering, the committee was requested to produce a comprehensive final report that addresses the full terms of reference. This report—the committee’s second and
Change on Naval Operations in the Arctic, CAB D0020034.A3/1REV, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Va., April. |
9 |
Letter of request from ADM G. Roughead, USN, Chief of Naval Operations, to Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences, September 12, 2008. |
10 |
Ibid. |
11 |
Biographical information for the committee and staff is presented in Appendix C. |
12 |
The committee’s letter report is provided in Appendix D. |
BOX P.1 Terms of Reference—National Security Implications of Climate Change for U.S. Naval Forces At the request of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Naval Studies Board of the National Research Council will establish a committee to study the national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces (i.e., the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard). Based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and other subsequent relevant literature reviewed by the committee, the study will:
This 15-month study will produce two reports: (1) a letter report following the third full committee meeting that summarizes the immediate challenges for U.S. naval forces in addressing each of the four above areas, as well as recommends approaches to address these challenges; (2) a comprehensive report that addresses in greater depth the full terms of reference. |
final report—builds on the near-term challenges identified in the letter report. In total, the committee believes that both reports have responded productively to the CNO’s charge.
THE COMMITTEE’S APPROACH
In addressing its charge, the committee studied a range of issues associated with national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces. In addition, the committee reviewed IPCC assessments and other subsequent literature, as well as reference documents from scientific and operational communities. The findings and recommendations in this final report are based on wide-ranging input from experts, both internal and external to the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense, and on the committee’s own analysis, which draws on the expertise and experience of its members.
The committee first convened in September 2009. After its third full meeting, the committee drafted its letter report. The committee went on to convene additional meetings and data-gathering sessions over a period of 7 months, both to gather input from the relevant communities and to discuss its findings and recommendations. A summary of the committee’s meetings is provided below:
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September 17-18, 2009, in Washington, D.C. First full committee meeting: Briefings on current climate change and energy-related initiatives from Navy Task Force Climate Change; Navy Task Force Energy; the Navy Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Integration Group; the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration of Capabilities and Resources (N81); the Office of Facilities Branch Head, U.S. Marine Corps; the Office of Environmental Management Section, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps; and the Office of Policy Integration, Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard. Additionally the committee received briefings on recently completed climate-change-related reports by the Center for a New American Security, the CNA, and the National Research Council.
-
October 19-20, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Second full committee meeting: Briefings on climate-change-related national security issues, naval installation vulnerabilities, and current research activities by representatives from the National Intelligence Council, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Navy Task Force Climate Change, Naval Installations Command, the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Ice Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Washington, and the University of Colorado.
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November 19-20, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Third full committee meeting. Briefings on human dimensions, allies’ perspectives, water resource issues, and maritime operational perspectives of climate change from Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network; the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security; the British Defence Staff
-
of the United States British Embassy; the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Plans and Strategy; and the Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard.
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January 7-8, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Fourth full committee meeting. Briefings on U.S. naval and DOD military prespectives on climate change from Navy Task Force Climate Change, USMC Expeditionary Energy Office, the First Naval Construction Division, Navy QDR Integration Group, and DOD’s Strategic Environmental Research Group; allies’ prespectives from the Office of Defense Research and Development—Embassy of Canada; climate change initiatives and research coordination from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP); and coastal vulnerability mapping from the U.S. Geological Survey.
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February 4-5, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Fifth full committee meeting. Briefings on climate and disease, allies’ perspectives, climate science, and U.S. Navy and DOD perspectives from the Assistant Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Academies Institute of Medicine; the Director, General Defence Research and Development—Canada; the United States Joint Forces Command; the Joint Global Change Research Institute; the White House OSTP; the Navy Task Force Climate Change; the Navy QDR Integration Group; and Project MEDEA.
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February 25, 2010, in Stennis, Mississippi. Site visit/small group data-gathering session. Briefings on Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command’s climate-change-related capabilities, perspectives, and plans from Naval Oceanographic Office.
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March 5, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Site visit/small group data-gathering session. Briefing on NATO and allied partners’ perspectives on national security and climate change issues, capabilities, and plans by ADM James G. Stavridis, USN, Commander of the United States European Command, and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
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March 22-23, 2010, in Washington, D.C. Sixth full committee meeting. Briefings on U.S. Department of State, U.S. naval services, and allies’ perspectives on climate change; U.S. naval services humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response in Haiti; and updated climate science and climate model projections. Briefings received from the Defense Attaché—Royal Norwegian Embassy; Office of the Commander, U.S. Second Fleet; Office of the Commander, Naval Installations Command; Office of the Commander, Fourth Fleet, U.S Navy Southern Command; the Director, Plans, Policy and Operations, USMC Future Operations Group; Navy Task Force Climate Change; Project MEDEA; and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.
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April 12-16, 2010, in Irvine, California. Seventh full committee meeting. Committee deliberations and report drafting.
The months between the committee’s last meeting and the publication of the report were spent preparing the draft manuscript, gathering additonal information, reviewing and responding to the external review comments, editing the report, and conducting the security review needed to produce an unclassified report.
The committee believes that it has responded productively to the original tasking by providing in this final report a comprehensive analysis of the primary issues associated with the national security implications of climate change for U.S. naval forces. The committee thanks the many briefers who presented information essential to the writing of this report. In particular, the committee is grateful to CAPT Timothy Gallaudet, USN, Deputy Director, Navy Task Force Climate Change, and CDR Esther McClure, USN, Head, Energy and Environmental Issues, Navy QDR Integration Group (who has, since the writing of this report, retired from the U.S. Navy and is now serving as the strategy action officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense-Policy)—both of whom helped facilitate the committee’s effort in gathering information related to the study.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
David L. Bradley, Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University,
Rita R. Colwell, University of Maryland,
Florence Fetterer, University of Colorado,
Paul G. Gaffney II, VADM, USN (Ret.), Monmouth University,
James D. Hull, VADM, USCG (Ret.), Annapolis, Maryland,
William A. LaPlante, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University,
Pamela A. Matson, Stanford University,
Joseph Pedlosky, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and
John E. Rhodes, LtGen, USMC (Ret.), Balboa, California.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review
of this report was overseen by Robert A. Frosch, Harvard University. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.