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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCIA Ends Information Sharing with Climate Scientists
Shutting down a program that began nearly a quarter-century ago, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has decided to stop sharing classified information it collects on the ocean and atmosphere with scientists studying climate change.
The CIA has ended its Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis (MEDEA) program, according to news reported by Mother Jones. Under MEDEA, about 60 civilian scientists had security clearances that allowed them to receive classified data, such as ocean temperature and tidal readings gathered by Navy submarines and topography data collected by spy satellites, wrote journalist Tim McDonnell.
The program provided climate experts with information about global warming and other climate-related threats that they couldnt access from other sources. The CIA uses that data in its analyses on how weather changes will impact global conflicts. Its believed that the spy agency had heretofore partnered with the MEDEA scientists to perform their analyses, which then made its way into the agencys annual Worldwide Threat Assessment (pdf) report, according to McDonnell.
President Obama has called climate change an immediate risk to our national security and urged U.S national security agencies to give the matter high priority. He also signed an executive order requiring that climate change data be developed and shared among federal agencies, and made available to the public.
The CIA didnt state why it shuttered MEDEA, saying in a statement: Under the Medea program to examine the implications of climate change, CIA participated in various projects. These projects have been completed and CIA will employ these research results and engage external experts as it continues to evaluate the national security implications of climate change.
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http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/cia-ends-information-sharing-with-climate-scientists-150526?news=856581
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Guess the rest of the Gov is not in charge of the CIA, eh?
Octafish
(55,745 posts)If anybody knows how to turn a buck off inside information... Ask Booz Allen.