Black and White and Hot All Over

The NYT has an interesting article about military concerns regarding climate change. Despite the claim in the following excerpt, I'm pretty certain I read of an earlier military study four or five years ago; this may be more in-depth, more detailed, but I believe the military has been expressing concern on this issue for some time.

WASHINGTON — The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.

The conflict in southern Sudan, which has killed and displaced tens of thousands of people, is partly a result of drought in Darfur. Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change.

Recent war games and intelligence studies conclude that over the next 20 to 30 years, vulnerable regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia, will face the prospect of food shortages, water crises and catastrophic flooding driven by climate change that could demand an American humanitarian relief or military response.

Another group that bought into climate change early, interestingly enough, was the insurance industry. Imagine the liabilities involved with insured property, agricultural produce, deliveries to market, lives, medical costs, and on and on. You can bet they'd rather deal with a stable, predictable climate.

So in recognition of the many, many interest groups concerned about climate change, here is yet another in the series of GraphJam Climate Change posts; there are quite a few more in the comments at the original call for submissions. To experts, climatologists, meteorolgists and so on who appear to have started linking to this blog, I AM NOT an expert. I consider myself a widely scientifically literate person, with only a BS in Geology. The recent rash of climate posts is due to my amusement with the above-linked post. I often post on climate and weather related topics, but not as often as the last few days. Do not expect to find data and commentary with much substance unfamiliar to you.

On the other hand, if you enjoy intelligent coffee shop discussions, pull up a seat, and make yourself comfortable! (Click the pic for full size)
Followup, Sun. Aug. 9: I forgot that Explorer does not automatically link the posted picture to the source; the full size graph is here.