TEN years ago a US Defence Department climate study, which fanned fears of global warming and caused much public expenditure and regulatory compliance costs, has proven false, reports The Washington Times.
In 2003, climate scientists told the military that by now California would be flooded by inland seas, The Hague would be unlivable, polar ice would be mostly gone in summer.
The report was produced by a consulting firm, then called the Global Business Network, for the Pentagon's office of net assessment. It became a driving force to allocate money to counter global threats, said the report.
The report, "An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for National Security", is credited with kick-starting the movement that has vigor than ever before.
"The release of this report is what likely sparked the modern era of security interest in climate affairs," said Jeff Kueter, president of the George C Marshall Institute, that studies issues that affect public policy.
Critics say such alarmist reports caused the Pentagon to shift money that could be used for weapons and readiness into biofuels and working in climate change into strategic planning.
The US Government Accountability Office in 2011 documented a big increase in federal global warming spending, from US$4.6 billion in 2003 to $9 billion in 2010.
Oklahoma's Senator James Inhofe, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, said biofuel projects should be left to the Energy Department.
Under the section "Warming up to 2010", here are some of the report's key scenarios, compared with what has transpired:
By 2005, more severe storms and typhoons bring about higher storm surges and floods.
Today, UN experts say they have "low confidence?of an increase in hurricanes or tornadoes. The US is likely experiencing fewer tornadoes than 50 years ago. This year's tornado season was historically low.
The US has not experienced a major hurricane in nearly 10 years.
As for global warming, satellite data shows no increase in world temperatures for 17 years. Even the Environmental Protection Agency puts the decade increase at 0.3 degrees - not 0.5 degrees a year as the study predicted.
Predictions of more floods, making coastal cities such as The Hague "unlivable" by 2007 have come to nothing.
The UN said this year: "There continues to be a lack of evidence and thus low confidence regarding the sign of trend in the magnitude and/or frequency of floods on a global scale."
Yet the Pentagon alarmism persists in citing the questionable conclusions in this 2003 eco-report in its current Quadrennial Defense Review that warns of increasing storms.
"As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating," its latest QDR stated.
WORLD SHIPPING
15 June 2014 - 16:06
Pentagon climate study proves false, but lives on in alarmist policy
TEN years ago a US Defence Department climate study, which fanned fears of global warming and caused much public expenditure and regulatory compliance costs, has proven false, reports The Washington Times.
WORLD SHIPPING
15 June 2014 - 16:06
Pentagon climate study proves false, but lives on in alarmist policy
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