Ex-U.S. military chiefs warn warming worsens security

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global climate change acts as a "threat multiplier" in some of the world's most volatile areas, and raises tensions even in stable regions, 11 former U.S. military leaders warned on Monday.

To combat this, they urged immediate planning and international cooperation without waiting for total certainty on the consequences of global warming.

"We can't wait until we have absolute certainty," retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan, a former U.S. Army chief of staff, said at a briefing where the report was released. "We know that we never have 100 percent certainty and ... if we wait, we might wait too long."

The military leaders' assessment of the national and international security risks posed by global warming was made public on the eve of the first debate in the U.N. Security Council on climate change.

Their report found climate change is a "threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world."

Extreme weather events, drought, flooding, sea level rises, retreating glaciers, habitat shifts and the increased spread of life-threatening diseases are part of the threat that could prompt U.S. military involvement, the report found.

These climate problems factors will make life more difficult in places that are already unstable, including parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states.

"The U.S. may be drawn more frequently into these situations, either alone or with allies, to help provide stability before conditions worsen and are exploited by extremists," the report said.