Heed the warnings

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 | 2:12 a.m.

Talk of how global warming will affect not only the environment but also the security of the United States and other countries gained momentum last year with a report by six retired admirals and six retired generals.

Affiliated with a Virginia think tank, the retired commanders affirmed that Earth is warming and predicted that in the coming years this will greatly diminish natural resources, drawing the United States into wars.

It was an argument supported by Great Britain during climate change debates among members of the U.N. Security Council.

Debate also ensued in Congress as House Democrats were crafting a bill to limit emissions such as those from coal-fired power plants and automobiles that heavily contribute to warming.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., dismissed the projections as “hot air.” Rep, Eward Markey, D-Mass., countered, saying, “Looking forward we can see the threat of rising temperatures and the increasing risk of natural and humanitarian disasters.”

More warnings came last week. The Washington Post reported on remarks by Thomas Fingar, the federal government’s top intelligence analyst. During a speech in which he previewed some of what he will tell the next president, Fingar spotlighted global warming. He warned that by 2025 upheavals over shortages of food, water and energy will affect large areas of the planet — including our own Southwest region. He predicted we will face “Dust Bowl” conditions.

Additionally, an article in the current edition of the journal Nature, written by scientists from Florida State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, presents compelling evidence that hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have been getting stronger over the past 25 years due to global warming.

The article is disturbingly timely, given the Hurricane Ike scenes coming from the Texas and Louisiana coastal areas.

Warnings about national security threats, and threats to lives, land and infrastructure, are coming out of almost every climate change discussion and research paper. Congress and the next president should act on the warnings — before the papers and discussions begin concluding it is too late.