http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2008/JOE2008.pdfG. Climate Change and Natural Disasters
The impact of global warming and its potential
to cause natural disasters and other harmful phenomena
such as rising sea levels has become a prominent—and
controversial—national and international concern. Some
argue that there will be more and greater storms and
natural disasters, others that there will be fewer.* In
many respects, scientific conclusions about the causes and
potential effects of global warming are contradictory.
Whatever their provenance, tsunamis, typhoons,
hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural
catastrophes have been and will continue to be a concern
of joint force commanders. In particular, where natural
disasters collide with growing urban sprawl, widespread
human misery could be the final straw that breaks the back
of a weak state. In the 2030s as in the past, the ability
of U.S. military forces to relieve the victims of natural
disasters could help the United States’ image around the
world. For example, the contribution of U.S. and partner
forces to relieving the distress caused by the catastrophic
Pacific tsunami of December 2006 reversed the perceptions
of America held by many Indonesians. Perhaps no other
mission performed by the Joint Force provides so much
benefit to the interests of the United States at so little cost.
* Kerry Emanuel, Ragoth Sundaraarajan, and John Williams, “Hurricanes and
Global Warming,” Bulletin American Meteorological Society, March 2008, pp. 347-367
See also
http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/137334.pdf