Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: The US military's fatal stance on climate change
Posted: 28th August 2026
August 27, 2026
An Oregon Army National Guard HH-60M Black Hawk crew with Golf Company, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation, flew water bucket missions on the Hagen Fire in Umatilla County, Oregon, Aug. 10, 2026. (Oregon National Guard photo by Maj. W. Chris Clyne)
The US military’s fatal stance on climate change
The Pentagon is preparing to wage war in a warming world, even as it accelerates it, writes Neta C. Crawford. By “destroying infrastructure and the environment, war itself contributes to global warming. The argument that climate change is a threat multiplier short circuits the causal chain: War and military buildups are climate change multipliers.” Read more.
This article follows Crawford’s previous Bulletin article, published last week: “Mission impossible? Quantifying military emissions.”
Data center backlash is preventing cities from learning how to handle them
Officials who’ve dealt with the complexities of data center deals are largely unwilling to talk about them due to public backlash. The result is a self-defeating information gap: local governments negotiating their first deals lack access to experienced people to ask for advice, writes Abi Olvera. Read more.
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Mirror life is a mass-extinction risk we don’t need to take
“Though there’s some reasonable speculation that mirror molecules may produce useful medicines and materials, and studying mirror biology could help answer fundamental questions of science, none of those benefits requires creating an actual mirror organism. Given the possibility that such an organism could cause existential harm, research that makes progress toward mirror life should be strictly regulated, and creating mirror life should be prohibited,” writes Georgios Pappas. Read more.
The defense revolving-door, Silicon Valley edition
Annual US defense expenditures now approach $1 trillion—and could head toward $1.5 trillion in the coming fiscal year. How did we get here? One factor is the stream of national service officials who take positions at private military contractors and lobbying firms, writes John Mecklin. Read more.
This Bulletin report was recently covered by Responsible Statecraft in their article, “Dozens of ex-lawmakers, staff landed at military firms since 2015.”
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