A new report from the Pentagon said disturbing weather changes, rising sea levels and unpredictable storm patterns are fast becoming threat multipliers that can prove to be more challenging for the U.S. military.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the armed forces should always be ready to strike in the near future against a wide spectrum of possible threats regardless of politics. The Pentagon has shifted its policies towards climate change and recognizes this global threat can disable and weaken U.S. forces.

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The Pentagon sees climate change as an immediate threat to the U.S. and the government should take immediate action, argue Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia, co-directors of the Center for Climate and Securit. This new Pentagon report heralds changes to combat climate change starting from the military.

A Pew Research Center survey a month ago reveled Americans don't immediately consider climate change a global threat as opposed to other problems such as terrorism. Some 48 percent of respondents said climate change is a concern while 67 percent still think militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) poses a major problem while 59 percent mentioned Iran's nuclear program.

The United Nations will hold a conference in Peru this December to discuss climate change. Hagel has requested the presence of global defense leaders in the discussion.

He claims climate change is the root of all current global problems and is regarded as a threat multiplier that can amplify and intensify events such as the Ebola epidemic and ISIS terrorism.

Hagel's six-day visit to South America concludes the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas alongside leaders from Chile, Peru and Colombia and 34 other nations. 

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