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This issue brief examines how climate change impacts United States national security, detailing the Department of Defense's (DOD) conceptualization of climate change as a 'threat multiplier' and the resulting operational, infrastructural, and geopolitical challenges. It outlines the adaptation and mitigation strategies adopted by the DOD and other security agencies, while analyzing the role of Congressional legislation and funding in shaping these efforts.

In a statement to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on January 15, 2009, Jonathan Lash, President of the World Resources Institute (WRI), advocated for the urgent enactment of domestic U.S. climate legislation. Representing the United States Climate Action Partnership (US CAP), Lash argued that climate trends are accelerating faster than models predicted and that the U.S. must lead a transition to a low-carbon economy through a market-driven, economy-wide cap-and-trade program and complementary clean energy investments.

This executive summary previews a forthcoming book on the economic valuation of ocean services and the consequences of global environmental change. It identifies six primary threats to the ocean—acidification, warming, hypoxia, sea level rise, pollution, and overuse of resources—and argues that these stressors often interact synergistically, accelerating ecosystem degradation. The document advocates for a shift from traditional cost-benefit analysis to insurance-based risk models to account for catastrophic tipping points and recommends the appointment of a UN High Commissioner for Oceans to coordinate global governance.