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![Captain Tim Gallaudet, deputy director of the U.S. Navy's Climate Change Task Force, presents a talk titled "National Security of Climate Change: U.S. Navy Response" in Buchanan Alumni House on Monday. The address marked the beginning of the two-day Global Environmental Security conference hosted by the School of Policy and International Affairs.](http://mainecampus.bangorpublishing.netdna-cdn.com/files/2010/10/Global-Environmental-Security-688x975.jpg "Captain Tim Gallaudet, deputy director of the U.S. Navy's Climate Change Task Force, presents a talk titled "National Security of Climate Change: U.S. Navy Response\" in Buchanan Alumni House on Monday. The address marked the beginning of the two-day Global Environmental Security conference hosted by the School of Policy and International Affairs.")
The School of Policy and International Affairs hosted a lecture Oct. 25 in which a United States Navy captain spoke about the implications climate change could potentially have on Navy operations and national security.
Capt. Tim Gallaudet, deputy director of the Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change, was quick to dispel any assumptions that the Navy’s interest in climate change was related to a public relation image.
“There is an incredible linkage between the science, security and policy,” he said.
Coming out from behind the podium, Gallaudet explained why the Navy believes climate change is important and what they are doing about it.
“Why do we care? Well as, good soldiers and sailors, we were ordered to care,” he said.
President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13514 directed all military branches to monitor, track, report and ultimately reduce their carbon emissions.
The Department of Defense plans to go beyond those basic requirements as the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review stated “climate change, energy security and economic security are inextricably linked.” According to the review, all DOD departments are further expected to “assess, adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Scientific research showing the decreasing volume of sea ice over the Arctic Ocean and the reality of an open Northwest Passage during the summer months has motivated the Navy to face the implications of climate change head on. The Navy established the Task Force on Climate Change in May 2009. According to Gallaudet, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead likes to say “there is a fifth ocean opening up” over the Arctic for which the Navy will be expected to take responsibility.
Rear Admiral David Titley, a Navy oceanographer and Gallaudet’s boss, was called in to work on the TFCC, which has taken a wide-ranging look at climate change. It has engaged 450 individuals from 125 organizations in the military, scientific, political and international communities to help its members understand how climate change will affect the Navy and what other countries are doing to address the problem. When listing the various universities contributing to the Navy’s effort, Gallaudet said he looked forward to adding the University of Maine to that list.
The Navy’s approach to climate change places more emphasis on the effects of global warming than the cause. The physical impacts of weather, ocean and land are measured and monitored, while the human impacts on food, water, shelter, energy and health are estimated, taking into account population differences. This analysis leads to a whole government response in what Gallaudet called the three D’s: defense, diplomacy and development.
Gallaudet said the Navy’s focus is not to save the world but “to assess risk and decide who can do what the best.”
According to Gallaudet, the TFCC has focused their efforts on the Arctic region because that is where conditions are changing most rapidly and visibly, nearly twice as fast as the rest of the world.
Gallaudet cautioned against giving too much weight to media attention that presents climate change as the “glass is half full and the sky is falling.” He acknowledged there are significant challenges but also opportunities.
The result of this analysis is the Arctic Roadmap, which was released by the TFCC in 2009 and outlines the Navy’s priorities in the region. With commercial, military and cruise ship traffic increasing through the arctic ice, the Navy is concerned about possible conflict between arctic nations looking for resources, the need for emergency services and the potential need for oil spill response resources.
The only infrastructure in the region is Barrows, Alaska, with about 4,000 residents. With no major military installations nearby, Gallaudet said there is now a “lot of water where there used to be ice.” Currently, the Navy does not have many ships capable of navigating the icy waters above the Arctic circle and its arctic submarine force is not up to the task of rescue and oil spill response.
Most Navy bases are at sea level and if the ocean rises even the estimated minimum of 1.4 meters, structures along the coast would be affected. In Gallaudet’s eyes, the rising sea is a mixed blessing for the Navy because he believes this knowledge can help spur a rebuilding or retrofitting of infrastructure that is 50 years overdue.
Gallaudet said Maine might see businesses like the Bath Iron Works benefit if the Navy decides to rebuild or retrofit its armada to meet the new demands of the “Fifth Sea.” He also predicts Maine Maritime Academy graduates will be running missions through the northern sea.
Gallaudet believes the potential for conflict between Arctic nations is low, because so far all have worked within the rules to claim new territory and, with relationship building gestures like port visits and collaborative war games, he believes escalating conflict can be avoided.
Geo-engineering is a relatively unknown factor Gallaudet encouraged those in attendance to study. Ideas that offering a technical solution to a societal problem are growing in popularity. For example, the cooling effect of a volcano eruption could be imitated by shooting sulfates into the atmosphere, but the long-term effects of that are unknown.
Gallaudet alluded to China, saying if a large country in Asia with an economic interest in using coal decided to solve the problem on their own and engage in geo-engineering, America would not be prepared to respond.
One thing Gallaudet did not explain in his presentation was what causes global warming and whether it is a naturally occurring climate change. When pressed on this point during the question period, he immediately expressed the belief that climate change has been accelerated by humanity, but that there have also been “exaggerations in some reports.”
Gallaudet said he believes climate change is too complex to understand on a global level and, echoing Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom’s lecture on sustainability at UMaine last week, urged more focus on local conditions and effects. For example, he suggested the city planners in Portland begin looking at their waterfront development in terms of potential climate change and make the investments accordingly.
While Gallaudet said he is doubtful of climate models, he said he did not believe there is a strong link between climate change and increasing storms, despite his own home being washed away during Hurricane Katrina. He emphasized the hard measurable science that some of the Navy’s partners have conducted.
“The take home [message] here is the ice is getting a lot thinner — that’s real, it’s not a projection,” he said.
