‘Near unliveable’ extreme heat poses national security risk

2 weeks ago 7

Climate alteration could render parts of bluish Australia astir unliveable, throwing into uncertainty the feasibility of important subject bases, a radical of starring Defence figures has warned.

The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, led by erstwhile Australian Defence Force main Chris Barrie, is calling connected the national authorities to enactment clime alteration astatine the centre of its reasoning connected nationalist security, alternatively than focusing connected the strategical hazard of a much almighty China.

Former Australian Defence Force main Chris Barrie is calling connected the authorities to absorption connected the nationalist information risks of clime change.

In a report, Too Hot to Handle: The Scorching Reality of Australia’s Climate-Security Failure, the radical said cardinal authorities documents, including past month’s national Defence strategy and the 2023 Defence strategical review, had made lone tokenistic and fleeting references to clime alteration risks.

The government’s 10-year Defence spending program released past month allocated up to an other $18 cardinal implicit the adjacent decennary for bases successful bluish Australia, an already blistery portion that is particularly susceptible to rising temperatures.

The information leaders’ radical recovered that, with a 2.7-degree mean emergence successful planetary temperatures, immoderate of Australia’s astir important subject assets would beryllium subjected to “near unliveable” utmost heat. The United Nations warned successful 2021 that the satellite was connected way for a “catastrophic” mean 2.7-degree Celsius somesthesia emergence by the extremity of the period if countries did not trim their c emissions.

These sites see Royal Australian Air Force bases successful Darwin and Katherine, service barracks and a naval basal successful Darwin, positive the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt successful Exmouth, Western Australia.

“There are galore places wherever 1 whitethorn take to combat a war, but not privation to unrecorded oregon enactment oregon take to find ample numbers of defence unit successful peacetime owed to the harshness of conditions,” Barrie said.

“Northern Australia successful the aboriginal volition beryllium 1 of those places.”

Darwin and Katherine could acquisition astir 300 days a twelvemonth with temperatures supra 35 degrees if clime alteration was not brought nether control, the study found.

Extreme temperatures would marque subject grooming exercises and attraction operations difficult, if not impossible, it said, raising the question of whether immoderate bases would request to beryllium relocated southbound to cooler locations.

“Once bluish Australia reaches a authorities of ‘near unliveable conditions’, the country volition beryllium apt to partially depopulate and the services and infrastructure connected which civilian nine and the subject beryllium – transport and logistics, utilities, wellness and societal and acquisition services for families – volition degrade,” the study said.

“The contented is not simply operability, but besides of liveability, civilian infrastructure and compounding impacts.

“The wide conditions and degradation of services and infrastructure volition marque it highly hard to intolerable for the families of Defence personnel.”

The nationalist Defence strategy released past period said utmost upwind events linked to clime alteration would enactment the Defence Force nether greater stress, including by having to supply much humanitarian and catastrophe alleviation assistance successful the region.

“The effects of clime alteration are amplifying existing stressors crossed the region, specified arsenic poverty, nutrient information and cross-border migration and displacement,” the strategy said.

“These effects whitethorn besides intensify transboundary tensions and person impacts connected Australia’s nationalist security.”

The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group includes retired aerial vice-marshal John Blackburn and the Department of Defence’s erstwhile caput of preparedness and mobilisation, Cheryl Durrant.

The radical last twelvemonth criticised the authorities for refusing to merchandise a declassified mentation of a landmark Office of National Intelligence (ONI) report, prepared successful 2022, connected the nationalist information risks posed by clime change.

As good arsenic publishing a mentation of the report, the radical is present besides calling connected the authorities to found a clime menace quality subdivision wrong the ONI. Such a subdivision should present an annual, de-classified briefing to parliament connected the nationalist information risks of clime change, the radical said.

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