Summary of an Article

Greidys Gil from Professor Helen Roland's EAP 1620 class wrote the following summary to an article. You can read the article at  http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0419/p02s01-usgn.html  .

Summary of an article

            The article “Could Global Warming cause war?” by Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, from the April 19, 2007 edition shows that the debates about global warming are being focused not only on environment, energy, and economy, but also on national security and war prevention. Many experts are concerned that because of climate changes, conflicts over water, food and disease could be intensified resulting in instability around the world.

            Some retired US generals and admirals warned that this current issue represents a threat to the United States’ national security and they published a report. The report titled “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change,” estimated that  the climate in the future will affect many nations including Asia, Africa, and the Middle East which will cause great political instability. As a result, it could develop civil strife, genocide, and terrorism. Furthermore, in order to establish a stable environment and reduce disaster before conditions worsen, the United States will take action.

            One of the authors of the report, Anthony Zinni, the retired marine general declared, "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, or we'll pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives." Based on this report and afraid of the situation, scientists and military officers such as Representative Edward J. Markey (D) of Massachusetts, have encouraged the governments and people to get involved urgently. Otherwise, humans will be affected in the near future. People have to focus their efforts in taking action to reduce greenhouse gases and the consumption of natural resources. Another politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California has been introducing plans to work toward a possible joint emissions-trading market.

            Even though, the current Bush administration doesn’t think that this environmental issue can represent a threat for the nation comparing it with  the conflict of arms or ideologies, they believe that if left uninformed, they can threaten national and international security. For this reason, this issue will continue to be discussed at international meetings. 

Note: article from http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0419/p02s01-usgn.html