Chief Of Australian Federal Police - Climate Change Is Biggest Risk To National Security - AFP

[hatrack]

Climate change poses this century's biggest security threat, possibly forcing the migration of millions of people from countries such as China, Australia's top policeman has warned. Water and food shortages could send waves of migrants across oceans and borders in the Asia-Pacific region, causing social disruption and unrest, said Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty.

Prime Minister John Howard Tuesday refused to comment on Keelty's unexpected foray into the politics of global warming delivered in a speech in Adelaide on Monday night.

The police chief's comments were seen as diplomatically-sensitive by some local media, with a reference to the possibility of China being unable to feed its population viewed as particularly provocative. "For China to feed its predicted 2030 population, it needs to increase its food production by about 50 percent above today's levels," Keelty said. "How does it achieve this, if its available land is dramatically shrinking and millions of people are on the move because of land and water. "In their millions, people could begin to look for new land and they'll cross oceans and borders to do it."

The mass displacement of people "particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, could create a great deal of social uncertainty and unrest in the region," Keelty said. "The potential security issues are enormous and should not be underestimated."

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/070925075140.0we9ixgr.html

[rodeodance]

1. we/they need more to speak out like this.