Global Change Research for a More Secure World

Intensifying global changes, caused by human activity, are dramatically affecting human and ecological communities around the world. The individual and collective impacts of worsening floods, wildfires, and deforestation; melting glacial ice and rising seas; and emerging infectious diseases all exacerbate biodiversity loss and threaten human health, economic development, and poverty alleviation, especially for already vulnerable populations. In recent decades, researchers, policymakers, and the public have further recognized that national security and the stability of civil society are tightly tied to the planet’s health. As the implications of global change for national security are better understood, they are increasingly being acknowledged in government policy and guidance.