President Joe Biden has appointed a top climate scientist, Kim Cobb, to the White House’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The council is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the nation’s intelligence community and providing recommendations to the White House. Biden, who issued a series of climate-related executive orders shortly after taking office in 2021, required the intelligence community to assess the national security threats posed by climate change. The result was a National Intelligence Estimate that predicted rising geopolitical risks as nations argue over each other’s failure to reduce greenhouse gases. This could lead to countries hardening their borders against high-carbon products and climate migrants.
The report also warned of conflicts between nations over water, minerals used in clean energy technology, and food. Cobb has a doctorate in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and is an expert in paleoclimatology. She has documented climate change over 7,000 years and discovered the effects of climate change on the world’s environment, including melting of arctic ice caps, extreme heat, and changing weather patterns.
Other members of the Intelligence Advisory Board include former Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano, Richard R. Verma, former ambassador to India and assistant secretary of State, and Admiral James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., a U.S. Navy flight squadron commander and former Topgun instructor. Former President Dwight Eisenhower established the Intelligence Advisory Board in 1956. This is believed to be the first time the panel has included a climate scientist.
