With more people accepting the inevitability of climate change, there’s a change in climate can among the nation’s top national security experts.  They have begun outlining the dangers to world stability and U.S. security.  Juliet Eilperin reports in the Washington Post that 11 retired senior generals have issued a report citing the potent security threats from climate change.  The generals are calling climate problems “a threat multiplier” that can unleash refugee flows and destabilize entire regions.  Sea level rise may cause U.S. military bases to close and rapid changes in the natural environment may hamper governments’ ability to meet basic human needs, particularly in developing nations.  This in turn could lead to increased support for nationalist or terrorist organizations and to cross-border incursions, not to mention mass migration.  Problems like Darfur and Somalia, which are at root conflicts over land and natural resource access, could intensify. 

The scope of this potential problem is just emerging.   This week, for the first time ever, the UN Security Council will hold a briefing on the dangers of climate change to world stability. 

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