Climate change, extreme weather already threaten 50% of U.S. military sites

The following article by Sammy Roth was posted on the USA Today website January 31, 2018:

A military Humvee maneuvers through flooded streets in downtown Annapolis, Md., on Oct. 30, 2012, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Annapolis is home to the U.S. Naval Academy, which was one of the first military installations to be analyzed for climate risks. Credit:: Blake Sell/AP

Military leaders are sounding another alarm about the dangers of climate change, saying in a new report that half of U.S. military sites have already been affected by floods, wildfires, droughts and other weather extremes that are exacerbated by rising global temperatures.

Following a request from Congress, the Defense Department studied climate risks to all 3,500 U.S. military sites around the world. It found nearly 800 had been affected by droughts, 350 by extreme temperatures, 225 by storm surge-related flooding and more than 200 by wildfires, among other weather events.

Climate scientists say those types of extreme weather events have already become more common as global temperatures increase. Sea levels are rising, storms are getting more intense, dry regions are getting drier and fire seasons are getting longer, research shows.

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