David Titley: How the military fights climate change
Scientist and retired Navy officer Dr. David Titley asks a big question: Could the US military play a role in combating climate change? Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about climate and change,
and not polar bears.
that we lived in in the mid-2000s.
for the Navy's weather and ocean service.
called Stennis Space Center
called Waveland, Mississippi,
it's up against a storm surge.
storm surge does
this is, like, right after Katrina --
up there in the railway tracks,
in the Gulf of Mexico,
we really, we lost our house.
the luckiest people on the Gulf Coast.
is probably pretty important there.
you know, what happened here?
because as you've heard,
to do something like this.
and kind of look at this.
climate's really complicated,
it's all about the water.
there down on the lower part?
that's all the water in the world.
those are the fresh water.
that as the climate changes,
is changing very fundamentally.
wrong place, wrong time.
it's liquid where it should be frozen;
of the ocean itself is changing.
from a security or a military part
environment that we're working in,
which sounds kind of fancy
by that in a second.
a couple examples here.
and humanitarian catastrophe
was one of the causes
in things like wheat and barley.
in Assad's office that said,
we're in the eastern Mediterranean,
maybe not the best idea."
and handsome man. We'll get right on it."
self-sufficient in food,
of their surface water.
many nonclimate issues
by that lower blue line there,
come into the cities.
heat wave and drought --
to the changing climate --
of a million farmers
They had nothing.
he's taking care of his people,
we have just this huge issue here
a risk to instability.
it makes bad places worse.
or about 1,200 miles, north of Oslo,
you've never heard of.
to get out and go into warmer waters.
every single polar orbiting satellite
the sea ice around here,
Parliamentary Assembly
on Svalbard next month.
very unhappy about that.
a flashpoint in the Arctic,
if not centuries,
a typhoon or strategic changes,
he understands that as well,
is that climate is a risk.
responses to Congress,
that understands this.
in other navies and other militaries
about the climate risk.
to speak for a half-a-day seminar
is alleged to have said,
but he's alleged to have said
be counted upon to do the right thing
we're still in the process
your recycling out on Wednesday,
with every business leader,
every government leader,
to stabilize the climate?"
won't lead on this issue --
the ice doesn't care.
who's in the White House.
controls your congress.
controls your parliament.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Titley - MeteorologistScientist and retired Navy officer Dr. David Titley asks a big question: Could the US military play a role in combating climate change?
Why you should listen
David Titley is a Professor of Practice in Meteorology and a Professor of International Affairs at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the founding director of Penn State’s Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. He served as a naval officer for 32 years and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Titley’s career included duties as commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command; oceanographer and navigator of the Navy; and deputy assistant chief of naval operations for information dominance. He also served as senior military assistant for the director, Office of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
While serving in the Pentagon, Titley initiated and led the U.S. Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change. After retiring from the Navy, Titley served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Operations, the chief operating officer position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Titley serves on numerous advisory boards and National Academies of Science committees, including the CNA Military Advisory Board, the Center for Climate and Security and the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Titley is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
David Titley | Speaker | TED.com