Report: Some U.S. Bases Not Prepared for Climate Change

Report: Some U.S. Bases Not Prepared for Climate Change

A recent report from the Inspector¹ General of the Department of Defense² says that United States military bases in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic are failing to prepare for long-term climate change.

The report gives a rare bit of public information about the military's state of readiness for the worsening weather conditions that many expect from a warming Earth.

The U.S. military long has recognized climate change as a threat to national security. That is in part because of the effect that floods, wildfires, extreme heat and other natural disasters are having and will have on U.S. bases and troops around the world.

Increasing hurricanes, flooding, storms and wildfires in recent years have caused billions of dollars in damage to Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base, Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base and other U.S. military bases. It also has interrupted training and other operations.

For years, laws, presidential orders and Pentagon rules have required the military to plan and work so that its bases, warships³, warplanes and troops can carry out their missions despite increasingly difficult weather conditions.

President Joe Biden directed faster, larger action on climate change by the Department of Defense and other agencies as one of his first acts in office.

Inspectors⁴ visiting the United States' six northernmost military bases last June and July found none were carrying out the required planning to prepare their bases and operations against long-term climate change.

Further, the inspector general report said, "most installation leaders at the six installations we visited in the Arctic and sub-Arctic region were unfamiliar⁵ with military installation resilience planning requirements, processes, and tools."

Resilience is a term that means the ability to adjust to change.

Senior officers told the inspector general's inspection⁶ team that their operations lacked the training and funding to start the required work. Some saw requirements for that kind of long-term planning as making up a "wish list" that would go up against competing priorities, the officers told the inspectors.

A Pentagon spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The inspector general report cited Defense officials as saying that the Biden administration has finished or is working on many of the report's recommendations.

One of the bases is in Greenland and the other five are in Alaska: Thule Air Base, Joint⁸ Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Clear Space Force Station, Eielson Air Force Base, Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely.

The Arctic and sub-Arctic are important to the U.S. because of rising tensions and competition with Russia and China, and because rising temperatures are melting sea ice. The melting sea ice will, possibly, allow oil exploration and open shipping⁹ lanes.

The inspectors found that the kind of problems linked with worsening climate change are already causing trouble at the U.S. bases.

At Fort Wainwright in Alaska, increased wildfire risks in 2019 interrupted training for two Pacific Air Force groups known as squadrons, so that one was able to carry out only 59 percent of planned training for a period, the report said.

Many of the exact discussions of climate risks at the six bases were blacked-out in the version of the report made public last week.

But inspectors photographed and described some of the issues. These included cracked runways, damaged buildings and roads, and a collapsed¹⁰ rock barrier that had been piled up to hold back floodwater at Thule in Greenland.

The report said of the base leaders, "They stated that their day-to-day focus was on reacting to immediate⁷ problems or reducing risk to existing hazards, rather than planning for future hazards."

The Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the world. A March heat wave that increased Arctic temperatures 30 Celsius¹¹ higher than normal surprised scientists.

Of 79 U.S. military installations overall, the Department of Defense says two-thirds are at risk of worsening flooding conditions and half are vulnerable to increasing drought and wildfires.

Words in This Story

installation – n. a military camp, fort, or base

priority – n. something deserving attention before competing alternatives

version – n. a form or variant¹² of a type or original

focus – v. to concentrate attention or effort

hazard – n. a source of danger

1 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

12 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。