National Academies Report Released: Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis

Recently, the National Academies Press (NAP) released a report edited by John D. Steinbruner, Paul C. Stern, and Jo L. Husbands; and produced by the Committee on Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on Social and Political Stresses; Board on Environmental Change and Society; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; and the National Research Council titled, Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis (2012). The 238-page final report available with a one-time registration, discusses how,

[c]limate change can reasonably be expected to increase the frequency and intensity of a variety of potentially disruptive environmental events-slowly at first, but then more quickly. It is prudent to expect to be surprised by the way in which these events may cascade, or have far-reaching effects. Over the coming decade, some climate-related events will produce consequences that exceed the capacity of affected societies or global systems to manage; these may have global security implications. Although focused on events outside the United States, Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis recommends a range of research and policy actions to create a whole-of-government approach to increasing understanding of complex and contingent connections between climate and security, and to inform choices about adapting to and reducing vulnerability to climate change.