Global warming is forcing militaries all across the world to adapt to switching towards renewable energy, which is not as simple as it may seem.
With the consistent use of fossil fuels emitting carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, global warming has been an increasing problem in the world. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases thinning out the atmosphere. This raises the temperature of our planet and can cause several issues such as ecosystem disruptions, the rise in sea levels, and an increase in natural disasters. Global warming has been such an imminent threat that it raises concerns over the usage of militaries using fossil fuels. This forces militaries to adapt by either switching over to renewable energy or continuing to use fossil fuels and increasing the consequences of climate change.
The consequences of climate change are such a dire problem that some even say that we are at a dead end. Ducan Depledge, who studies the implications of climate change in Loughborough university. said a faster global energy transition to avert “climate catastrophe” would pose challenges for armies, likely raising concerns over their fossil fuel use. “Whichever direction you go, militaries no longer have a choice about the fact that they’re going to be operating in a very different world to what they do today.” It seems that we are in an irreversible hole and we will very likely face the consequences for these problems.
Especially in the United States, a country that’s military consumes so much fossil fuels, this is a serious issue. The pentagon alone emits more carbon dioxide than entire countries such as Sweden. Erin Sikorsky, director of the Washington based center for climate change and security said, “What I worry about, as someone who worked in national security for a long time, is this blind spot puts the US at risk.” As Depledge says, adapting to renewable energy will be extremely difficult and will require a lot of resources to produce the required amount of energy for the transition.
It’s clear that global warming is an increasing problem. The Federal German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock said that climate change was an “extremely challenging” geopolitical situation but insisted that climate action remained a “top security policy,” proving that some countries are taking this situation very seriously.
Erin Sikorsky, says that “You can’t escape this. Climate doesn’t care who’s president or what your political goals are at the moment,” which brings up the issue that we should set aside internal conflicts and focus on imminent problems that could be very difficult to face in the future.
