Before beginning a climate change talk to a sold-out Salem City Club crowd on Friday, Dr. David Titley gave the audience a warning about his speech: "There's not going to be a whole lot of polar bears."

Not that Titley has a problem with polar bears. But, as he told about 120 people in the Willamette Heritage Center, he thinks too much talk about climate change prioritizes pretty polar bears over another pained populace: people.

The conversation about climate change consequences, he said, should be "about you and your family and your children."

Through talks like this, Titley has established himself as a voice in the environmental movement who goes against the tide. He's a retired Navy rear admiral who now teaches at Penn State's Department of Meteorology. Drawing on his military career, he has argued for years that climate change is not just a risk to animals and ecosystems, but to international security.

Speaking with the Statesman Journal before his talk, Titley said one of the most dangerous impacts of climate change is how it reveals "institutional resentments and slights" in a nation's fabric.

For example, he said, the Arab Spring was, in part, triggered by droughts spiking the price of wheat in North Africa, sparking an economic outrage that fueled a political outrage elsewhere.

For the complete article, please see Statesman Journal.