The Department of Defense and Its Role in Climate Research |
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As the performance of DOD systems, platforms, and operations may be influenced by natural environmental conditions, understanding the variability in the Earth's environment is of interest to many DOD science programs. Much of the research performed under the ONR's Operational Environments focus area and the ARO's Environmental Sciences Division, for example, lead to fundamental understanding of physical processes that are of particular relevance to the USGCRP. In May 2009, the Navy formed a Task Force on Climate Change to advise the Chief of Naval Operations on the impact of climate change on future Navy and Marine Corps operations. The objectives are to provide a central clearing point for climate change information and to assess potential impacts. Most importantly, the Task Force is to provide information about critical time lines relative to allocation of resources required to adapt to the future. The role of the task force is to address the impacts of climate change but this may ultimately result in additional research relative to mitigation and adaptation. The budgetary impact, however, is most likely to be in FY 2011 or alter. |