The Pentagon’s Climate Change

Talking Points

The Pentagon Report

· The Pentagon acknowledges the effects of climate change being uncertain and “quite possibly small” but says, “Given the dire consequences, it should be elevated beyond scientific debate. Action now matters.”

· Other affects of dramatic climate change: harsh winter weather conditions – especially in Europe and North America, a reduction in soil moisture and intense winds in important food producing regions.

· Resources will be a major cause of war between the “haves” and the “have nots,” with potential for escalating violence leading to nuclear war.

Effects of Climate Change?

· 19 of the 20 warmest years on record have occurred since 1980.

· 20% of the North Pole ice has melted away since 1979 – endangering the lifestyles of native polar tribes and threatening many artic species. Polar bears that rely on dense ice shelves to hunt seals and traverse the artic seas find their hunting grounds reduced by melting ice and some penguin populations have dropped by half due to disappearing ice and snow.

· In the western states, the snow line rises 500 feet higher for every 1.8 degree increase in temperature – by 2050 the water content in critical snow pack will be less than half of today’s total

· The heat wave that hit central and southern Europe last year killed 20,000 people – anticipated temperature increase due to global warming will cause more heat waves and floods.

· The Irish Potato famine killed one million people and was caused, in part, by climate change.

Current Administration Programs

· According to the Congressional General Accounting Office, President Bush’s 2002 goal to reduce emissions by 18% over the next ten years, would reduce overall emissions by only 2% of what would be achieved with no federal program at all.

· A quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the U.S.

· Currently $1.7 billion dollars a year is spent on climate research – while the administration continues to ignore existing research examining climate change, including a 2001 report done at the request of Congress which was highly lauded by scientists for its independent peer review.

Urban Areas and Pollution

· More than 15% of U.S. children are at risk for brain damage and learning disabilities due to mercury exposure in the womb – coal burning power plants are the biggest man made source or mercury.

· Found most commonly in paint, lead is most dangerous to young children whose growing bodies absorb more lead than adults – causing brain damage, learning disabilities, joint pain and concentration problems.

· Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease – affecting an estimated 5 million children, with the highest death rates among African Americans aged 15-24.