Wars, food shortages and mass immigration: How global warming poses dire threat to Britain’s security
By David Derbyshire
8 July 2011
Global warming will threaten Britain’s security by triggering wars, food shortages and mass migration, Energy Minister Chris Huhne warned today. Although the UK may escape the worst physical impacts of rising temperatures and sea levels, the UK will still be exposed to ‘alarming and shocking’ consequences of climate change elsewhere, he said. The warning comes as Ministers are preparing a White Paper that will usher in a new wave of nuclear power stations and a massive expansion of wind farms to cut Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions. In a speech to the Royal United Services think tank, Mr Huhne warned that climate change was a ‘systemic threat’ ‘With luck, the UK may well escape the worst physical impacts,’ he said. ‘But in a connected world, we will be exposed to the global consequences. And they are both alarming and shocking.’ […] He added: ‘Political solutions will become harder to broker; conflicts more likely. A world where climate change goes unanswered will be more unstable, more unequal, and more violent. ‘The knock-on effects will not stop at our borders. Climate change will affect our way of life – and the way we order our society. It threatens to rip out the foundations on which our security rests.’ […] The world has already seen riots and revolts caused by soaring food prices, he said. […]
