A new center at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, devoted to the impacts of climate change on national security, diplomacy and development will host a special symposium June 21-23 to bring science and key government sectors together.

The Center for Environment and National Security, formed at Scripps in October 2009, will present "Climate and National Security: Securing Better Forecasts" at the Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society and the Environment (Scripps Seaside Forum).

 As climate change consequences threaten to disrupt social and economic systems worldwide, governments seek strategies for mitigation of and adaptation to these consequences. Participants at the conference will present the expected impacts of climate change in particular regions of Asia and thereby to review the current state of climate forecasting, examine the national security meaning of the forecast climate impacts and discuss on what advances are needed in observations and modeling to reach adequate forecasts.

This conference is expected to draw 200 participants from the United States and around the world. The focus will be on the Pacific Rim region and China, Indonesia and India. In addition to Scripps researchers, scheduled speakers include relevant policymakers, Department of Defense officials responsible for monitoring environment-related developments and officials from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation, and the National Intelligence Council.

The symposium will commence with a reception at Birch Aquarium at Scripps the evening of June 21. June 22 will be a daylong conference of presentations and panel discussions at Scripps Seaside Forum and will wrap up the morning of June 23.

Registration is required. There is a registration fee of $100 per person to defray the cost of meals. The California education rate applicable to most UCSD students, faculty and staff is $20 per person.

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at University of California, San Diego, is one of the oldest, largest and most important centers for global science research and education in the world. The National Research Council has ranked Scripps first in faculty quality among oceanography programs nationwide. Now in its second century of discovery, the scientific scope of the institution has grown to include biological, physical, chemical, geological, geophysical and atmospheric studies of the earth as a system. Hundreds of research programs covering a wide range of scientific areas are under way today in 65 countries. The institution has a staff of about 1,300, and annual expenditures of approximately $155 million from federal, state and private sources. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration.