Climate change threatens security, UK tells UN: Britain has warned reluctant members of the United Nations that there are few greater threats to global security than climate change, delivering a stark message forecasting armed conflicts over scarce supplies of food, water and land. On a trip to New York, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, chaired the security council’s first debate on global warming. It was convened despite criticism from countries such as India and China which argue that the issue is outside the security council’s mandate of maintaining international peace. Guardian

Damage to Yangtze “irreversible” says China: Pollution, dams and excessive boat traffic have caused an “largely irreversible” decline in the aquatic ecology of the Yangtze says a report issued by China’s official State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). The report reveals that the more than 600 kilometers of the river are in “critical condition” and nearly 30 percent of its major tributaries, including the Minjiang, Tuojiang, Xiangjiang, and Huangpu rivers, are “seriously polluted.” Monga Bay

Eurostar promises carbon free travel: Eurostar, the high-speed rail service between London, Paris and Brussels, is set to become the world’s first “carbon neutral” train operator. The company announced yesterday that when the new Channel Tunnel Rail link is completed this November and Eurostar moves to its new terminus at St Pancras passengers will be able to travel without worrying about their carbon footprint. Independent

Honoured scientist toasts recycled water: The former head of a committee set up by the Bracks Government to help plan Melbourne’s water strategy has supported using recycled water for drinking. Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis, a Victorian microbiologist who last night received a lifetime achievement award, said drinking recycled water could boost dwindling resources. The Age

Warming could put US in hot water: As the world warms, water — either too little or too much of it — is going to be the major problem for the United States, scientists and military experts said Monday. It will be a domestic problem, with states clashing over controls of rivers, and a national security problem as water shortages and floods worsen conflicts and terrorism elsewhere in the world, they said. Time