Climate change poses a ‘direct threat’ to Australia’s national security. It must be a political priority

It is evident from Australia’s increasingly severe droughts and record-breaking heatwaves that time is running out to take action on climate change.

Climate change is expected to increase the severity of natural disasters in the
Asia-Pacific region, straining Australia’s ability to respond through humanitarian
 missions and fuelling more climate migration. 

And we aren’t just facing an environmental threat alone in Australia – there are significant implications for our national security and defence capabilities that we haven’t fully reckoned with either.

This point was made abundantly clear in a speech prepared for Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell at an event in June, excerpts of which have been recently published by the media. It noted that Australia is in:

the most natural disaster-prone region in the world … [and] climate change is predicted to make disasters more extreme and more common.

If the predictions are correct, [climate change] will have serious ramifications for global security and serious ramifications for the ADF [Australian Defence Force].

Read the story from The Conversation by an Honorary Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre from the  Australian National University, Chris Barrie -   “Climate change poses a ‘direct threat’ to Australia’s national security. It must be a political priority.”

Losing Nemo? Wider effects of mass Great Barrier Reef bleaching emerge

Marian Wong, a marine
biologist at the University
of Wollongong, at
Lizard Island.

Bleaching in the world's reefs over the past couple of years is immediately evident from the stark images of corals shedding their myriad colours for a ghostly white.

While as much as half the corals of the Great Barrier Reef died during the marine heatwaves of 2016 and 2017, researchers are only now beginning to assess the toll on the many species that rely on corals for food and shelter.

"A lot of the attention is on the corals," Marian Wong, a marine biologist from the University of Wollongong, said. "The public's perception is that the fish are mobile enough to just swim away.”

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “Losing Nemo? Wider effects of mass Great Barrier Reef bleaching emerge.”

Bureau continues to warn about rainfall deficiencies

A

ustralia’s Bureau of Meteorology continues to warn about rainfall deficiencies.

The bureau’s latest missive tells about deficiencies throughout Australia and in considering the May rainfall declares the situation in Victoria to be worsening.

“Longer-term deficiencies are also evident for various periods under 2 years duration in much of this region, and deficiencies are also evident over large areas of eastern Australia for periods of about 3 years duration,” it notes.

Read the bureau’s report - “Victorian situation worsens”.