For the first time ever, the United Nations Security Council has put global warming on its agenda and will hold a high-level meeting this month to discuss its potential impacts on international security.

We often hear of climate change’s threat to the environment, health, and the economy. But more and more policymakers and leaders are nervous about the global security issues we could face, such as conflicts over water resources and massive numbers of refugees from flooded regions.

Specifically, the April 17th meeting, chaired by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, will examine how water, agricultural production, famine, and crop surpluses could be effected by climate change. No statement or resolution is expected from the first meeting, which is following on the heels of the recent report on global warming’s impacts from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, is the Security Council President. He said he expects a summit on climate change in September 2008. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hasn’t committed to the summit, although he does want to discuss how best to confront global warming’s impacts with world leaders at a G-8 meeting of industrialized countries in June.

The Associated Press, via MSNBC