26/02/2022

(AU ASPI) Defence ‘Acutely Aware’ Of Risks Posed By Climate Change: ADF Chief

Australian Strategic Policy Institute -

Image: Department of Defence
Author
Brendan Nicholson is executive editor of The Strategist.
Defence has a key role to play supporting the government’s climate and disaster resilience agenda by integrating climate risk into the planning and conduct of its activities and operations, says Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell.

In a video statement at the launch of a new ASPI publication, The geopolitics of climate and security in the Indo-Pacific, Campbell described as ‘outstanding’ the work of ASPI’s Climate and Security Policy Centre led by Robert Glasser and said it performed an essential role in driving discussion of the long-term strategic consequences of climate change.

‘Those of us in Defence are acutely aware of the significant impact climate risks will have on the future of our region,’ he said. ‘Both the 2016 defence white paper and the 2020 defence strategic update identify that climate risk will affect our operating environment.’

The strategic update stated that threats to human security such as pandemics and growing water and food scarcity were likely to result in greater political instability and friction within and between countries, and reshape Australia’s security environment.

These threats would be compounded by population growth and extreme weather events in which climate change played a part, Campbell said.

The update said that while Defence had made substantial progress in building a more potent, capable and agile defence force, adjustments to the plans in the white paper were required, including measures to enhance ADF support to civil authorities in response to national crises and natural disasters such as pandemics, bushfires, floods and cyclones.

The strategic update noted that disaster response and resilience measures demanded a higher priority in defence planning, Campbell said. The ADF was working hard on such a response. Many climate risks were most consequential and urgent in the Pacific region.

The ADF’s support to the region was guided by the Framework for Pacific Regionalism and the Boe Declaration on Regional Security with its values and vision of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity, so that all Pacific people could lead free, healthy and productive lives, he said.

The declaration stated that climate change remained the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific.

It recognised an increasingly complex regional security environment driven by multifaceted security challenges and affirmed the peoples’ stewardship of the Blue Pacific and the need to strengthen and enhance capacity to pursue collective security interests in the region.

‘Defence stands ready to support the Pacific in these aspirations,’ Campbell said. Australia remained a principle regional partner supporting nations responding to disasters, especially in the Southwest Pacific.

Similarly, as a Center for Strategic and International Studies report identified, Southeast Asia would be one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. A temperature increase of 1.5°C would cause rising seas, dangerous flooding and changing rainfall patterns, leading to violent typhoons and droughts.

These climate risks posed a threat to food security, hobbled economic growth, prompted political instability and catalysed pandemics.

‘As the contributors to this ASPI publication make clear, the impacts of climate risks on the geopolitics and security of the Indo-Pacific are complex, but undeniable,’ Campbell said. ‘They alter the context in which regional actors make decisions and influence the strategies they pursue to achieve their goals.’

These factors contributed to state fragility and the risk of strategic miscalculation, he warned. Defence considered climate and disaster resilience risk in its strategic guidance and planning for structure, preparedness and mobilisation, supply chain logistics, estate and infrastructure plans, joint force operations, technological innovations, and capability development.

Paying his respects to Indigenous Australians, Campbell noted: ‘Like all of us, … our Indigenous peoples are deeply invested in the future of this great continent and the planetary systems that support its continuing sustainability.’

The challenges were significant, as the new report highlighted, he said. ‘Sometimes it takes determination not to be disheartened by the scope and scale of the challenges our region faces, particularly when it comes to climate risks, especially as we manage other overlapping short-term risks and crises on a daily basis,’ he said.

‘But I am hopeful. Each challenge presents an opportunity for cooperation for the common good, helping us to overcome entrenched suspicions or rivalries through collective action. It may be in small ways at first, but enough small moments of cooperation can build into greater things. They form the foundation for a better future and a stronger community within the Indo-Pacific.’

Campbell said he was not disheartened by the challenges or the work ahead. ‘I hope you are not either. The Climate and Security Policy Centre has done an excellent job in outlining the challenges we face within the region, but they’ve also pointed the way forward and offered potential solutions or areas for cooperation to address these challenges.

‘It represents yet another step forward. Congratulations on the publication of The geopolitics of climate and security in the Indo-Pacific. It should be closely read, and I hope it will inspire many to take heart and to take action.’

Links
at No comments:

(USA Psychology Today) How Climate Change Affects Our Brains

Psychology Today - Burcin Ikiz

 Did You Know That Climate Change Impacts Our Nervous Systems?

Studies show that increasing temperatures and pollution due to climate change harms our bodies and brains. Source: Pete Linforth/Pixabay

Author
Burcin Ikiz, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist, science writer, and consultant based in Los Angeles. Currently, she works as a neurodegeneration specialist at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
When I was a little girl, my favorite thing to do was to listen to my grandmother’s stories.

During mealtimes, we would all sit at the dining table, and I would beg my grandmother to tell me memories from her childhood in Istanbul, Turkey, where I was born and raised.

My grandmother had several stories on repeat, but there was one particular that I loved the most, which was about her swimming in the Bosphorus, the narrow waterway that connects the European coast of the city to the Asian side.

Key Points
  • Climate change causes harm to our brains, as well as our mental and physical health.
  • The neurological impact of global warming includes increased risk for dementia, amnesia, and epilepsy, among others.
  • The brains of children and teens are especially susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change.
  • NOTE: This article was reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster.
As children, my grandmother and her siblings would jump in the water from the front of their home and let the current carry them through until they would reach their friends’ house, where they would leave the turquoise-colored waters to collect mulberries from the trees in their friends’ garden.

This bucolic memory always amazed me because the Bosphorus I saw was quite different. My Bosphorus was surrounded by gray-colored cement buildings with almost no greens around. The water somewhat preserved its color but was too dirty even to imagine swimming in it.

The chaotic, loud, and metropolitan city I got to experience every day seemed worlds away from the idyllic scene that my grandmother described in her stories. It was hard to believe that they were the same city fifty years apart.

But that was about thirty years ago. Today, the Bosphorus looks even more different. Last summer, it got blanketed with a thick layer of viscous and smelly sea snot called mucilage that threatened the underwater marine life and the livelihood of local fishermen.

Even though mucilage incidents had happened before, they had never been so excessive, far-reaching, harmful, and long-lasting.

Unfortunately, the escalated case of massive algae blooms is not unique to my hometown.

Rising temperatures and higher pollution levels due to climate change have resulted in a global surge in algal blooms in recent decades, causing a significant drop in oxygen levels in hundreds of lakes and water sources worldwide. These blooms are not only harmful to the aquatic ecosystems and local economies but can also have a severe impact on human health.

Climate Change Harms Cognition and Brain Function

Some of these algal blooms, for example, are known to produce neurotoxins, which accumulate in fish and other seafood and can cause neurological damage, such as amnesia, epilepsy, parkinsonian- and dementia-like symptoms, in humans who consume the contaminated fish and water.

These toxins have even been shown to cross the placenta and accumulate in the amniotic fluid disrupting neurodevelopment in fetuses.

Similarly, long-term exposure to air pollution and fine inhalable particles, known as PM 2.5, have been strongly linked to increased risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Most recently, researchers have found an association between extreme heat waves and worsening symptoms of mood or anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide risk.

These are just some of the ways we know climate change can cause harm to our brains. But, there is still so much we don’t know about, mostly because our brains are very adaptable and can mask the harm done for many years.

For instance, the majority of people with neurodegenerative diseases–such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s–don’t show any behavioral or physical symptoms until mid-to-late-life, even though they had a history of harmful exposure or physical trauma that might have triggered their disease decades earlier.

Most often, by the time patients seek neurologists’ help, more than 50 percent of their nerve cells have already died, and their diseases are at an irreversible stage. That is why it is likely that we won’t see the true toll of our current exposure to pollutants, heavy metals, and toxins years and years from now when it might be too late.

We are already facing an epidemic of neurodegenerative diseases. More than six million Americans alone are living with Alzheimer’s today. This number is projected to more than double in the next thirty years. And, after decades of research, we still don’t have a cure or even ways to truly slow down these diseases.

In the next fifty years or so, we will not only see millions of more people with these fatal and incurable disorders, but with the effects of climate change, we will likely see them occurring at much earlier stages of life.

The Brains of Children and Teens Are the Most Sensitive

What’s worse is that the dynamic, developing brains of children and adolescents are the ones that are the most susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change.

Researchers have found a strong link between traffic-related air pollution and an increased risk for changes in brain development, resulting in lower IQs, poorer ability to do tasks that require hand-eye coordination, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children and teens.

Similarly, hyperthermia caused by increased heat exposure has been shown to modify brain development and cause long-term learning and memory deficits.

Some studies even predict that increasing water temperatures brought on by a warming planet could result in 96 percent of the world’s population not having access to omega-3 fatty acids, which are critical for healthy brain development.

Even though we don’t know much about the process, some of these harmful effects are thought to be passed on from parents to their children, who may never get exposed to the harmful pollutants themselves.

These are some things that need to be seriously considered when assessing the true impact of climate change on our health. We may not see the real damage for many, many years, and we may not be the only ones affected by them.

I don’t know if I will ever get to swim in the Bosphorus in my lifetime the way my grandmother did as a child. But, I believe that with our actions against climate change today, we can leave an idyllic enough world to our children so that they can share bucolic stories with their grandchildren someday.

VIDEO: BURCIN IKIZ 9min 21sec


Links
at No comments: