Climate Change Threatens Pacific, Arctic Conflicts
Date: 08-Jan-09
Country: AUSTRALIA
Author: Rob Taylor
Climate Change Threatens Pacific, Arctic Conflicts Photo: NASA/Terra
Satellite/Handout
An ice-free Northwest Passage is seen in this handout satellite photo from
NASA taken on September 15, 2007
Photo: NASA/Terra Satellite/Handout
CANBERRA - Climate change and rising sea levels pose one of the biggest
threats to security in the Pacific and may also spark a global conflict over
energy reserves under melting Arctic ice, according to Australia's military.
A confidential security review by Australia's Defense Force, completed in
2007 but obtained in summary by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, said
environmental stress had increased the risk of conflicts in the Pacific over
resources and food.
But the biggest threat of global conflict currently lay beneath the Arctic
as melting icecaps gave rise to an international race for undersea oil and
gas deposits, it said.
"Environmental stress, caused by both climate change and a range of other
factors, will act as a threat multiplier in fragile states around the world,
increasing the chances of state failure," said the summary, published in the
Herald on Wednesday.
"The Arctic is melting, potentially making the extraction of undersea energy
deposits commercially viable. Conflict is a remote possibility if these
disputes are not resolved peacefully," the assessment said.
The "Climate Change, The Environment, Resources And Conflict" summary report
was obtained under Freedom of Information laws which allow Australians to
access official documents provided it does not hurt national or government
security.
The military refused to release the full report because it could harm
Australia's defense capability and international relations, the Herald said.
Australia is a close U.S. ally and the report said climate change would
likely "increase demands for the Australian Defense Force to be deployed on
additional stabilization, post-conflict reconstruction and disaster relief
operations in the future."
Australian soldiers are already deployed alongside U.S. and European
counterparts in Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as in East Timor and Solomon
Islands in the Pacific.
The defense analysis said rising sea levels would affect nations and islands
with low-lying coastlines, and may lead to increase in refugees from
vulnerable Pacific islands.
It could also lead to more illegal immigration and fishing, bringing
disputes over access to scarce food resources. That could mean an increasing
presence north of Australia by the country's navy, the report said.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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