Flashback 2021: Biden Defense Sec Austin declares the ‘Climate Crisis’ an ‘existential’ threat that is ‘making it more difficult for us to carry out our mission of defending the USA’ – ‘We need to act’
By Marc Morano
January 13, 2025
7:37 pm
https://www.defense.gov/news/news-stories/article/article/2582051/defense-secretary-calls-climate-change-an-existential-threat/April 22, 2021 | By David Vergun, DOD News
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke today at the Leaders Summit on Climate.
“Today, no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does,” he said, adding that “climate change is making the world more unsafe and we need to act.”
The climate crisis is a profoundly destabilizing force for the world, Austin said. As the Arctic ice melts, competition for resources and influence in the region increases. Closer to the equator, rising temperatures and more frequent and intense extreme weather events in Africa and Central America threaten millions with drought, hunger and displacement.
As families risk their lives in search of safety and security, mass migration leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization, all of which undermine stability, he said. And in the far reaches of the Pacific, rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storms put individuals, families and whole communities at risk, while pushing the limits of the world’s collective capacity to respond.
“From coast to coast and across the world, the climate crisis has caused substantial damage and put people in danger, making it more difficult for us to carry out our mission of defending the United States and our allies,” he said.
https://www.climatedepot.com/2025/01/13/flashback-2021-biden-defense-sec-austin-declares-the-climate-crisis-an-existential-threat-that-is-making-it-more-difficult-for-us-to-carry-out-our-mission-of-defending-the-usa-we-need/
