Nick Sobczyk /E&E News & Science Magazine & Lorraine Chow / EcoWatch – 2018-03-19 00:54:50
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/half-us-military-facilities-vulnerable-extreme-weather-and-climate-risks
Half of US Military Facilities Vulnerable to Extreme Weather and Climate Risks
Nick Sobczyk /E&E News & Science Magazine
(January 30, 2018) — About half of the military’s infrastructure has been affected by extreme weather and other climate-related risks, according to a Pentagon report obtained by a nonpartisan climate think tank.
The report — dated January 2018 and published yesterday by the Center for Climate & Security in Washington, DC — surveyed more than 3,500 military sites around the world. It found that about 50% of bases reported effects from events like storm surge flooding, wildfire, drought and wind.
The report is relatively narrow in scope. It examines only current climate-related effects rather than future effects of warming temperatures, and it does not offer cost estimates. But the responses from individual installations provide a “preliminary qualitative picture of assets currently affected by severe weather events as well as an indication of assets that may be affected by sea level rise in the future,” the report says.
That information is important groundwork for the Department of Defense (DOD) as it prepares for climate change, said John Conger, who served at DOD during the Obama administration and directed the early stages of the report.
The fiscal 2018 defense authorization bill includes a provision requiring each branch of the military to develop a list of the bases and installations that are most vulnerable to the effects of global warming and report on their efforts to mitigate those effects.
Conger said the data from the survey will serve as a “good foundation” as the department develops the report, required by the National Defense Authorization Act. “Across the installation enterprise, I think it’s clear that a lot of folks are experiencing effects,” said Conger, who is now a senior policy adviser at the Center for Climate & Security.
The important thing for DOD to look at, though, will be how increasingly common extreme weather events affect training and mission effectiveness on the ground. “It’s not so much whether you saw a flood; it’s whether you saw a flood and it impacted your mission,” Conger said.
So far in the Trump presidency, DOD has served as a balance to the more political inclinations of the rest of the administration on the issue of climate change, even if it is sometimes less prominent than in the Obama-era Pentagon.
Climate change was not included in the Pentagon’s recently released National Defense Strategy. And the new survey was not released publicly until it was obtained by the Center for Climate & Security.
It was initially given only to Congress as part of a requirement in the bill report for the fiscal 2017 military construction appropriations bill.
Still, DOD appears to have no plans to stop preparing for a warmer future.
“I think it’s worth noting that this report was ultimately released by the current administration, which can be characterized as skeptical of climate change issues,” said Conger. “That’s good news that they recognize that there are these vulnerabilities and these issues.”
Copyright 2018 E&E News. Reprinted by Greenware. E&E provides essential news for energy and environment professionals at www.eenews.net
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
‘Climate Change’ Removed from FEMA’s Strategic Plan
Lorraine Chow / EcoWatch
(March 16, 2018) — Last year, one of the hottest years in modern history, was also the costliest year ever for weather disasters, setting the US back a record-setting $306 billion in spending aid and relief cost.
But it appears the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency that responds to hurricanes, flooding and wildfires, is ignoring a critical factor that exacerbates these natural disasters: climate change.
On Thursday, FEMA released its Strategic Plan for the next four years, which replaces the Obama-era version that made repeat mentions of climate change. The new document does not mention the terms “climate change,” “sea level rise” or even “extreme weather.” The only phrasing that comes close is “rising natural hazard risk” and “pre-disaster mitigation,” without mentioning what drives those risks.
FEMA’s Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 states:
“Disaster costs are expected to continue to increase due to rising natural hazard risk, decaying critical infrastructure, and economic pressures that limit investments in risk resilience. As good stewards of taxpayer dollars, FEMA must ensure that our programs are fiscally sound. Additionally, we will consider new pathways to long-term disaster risk reduction, including increased investments in pre-disaster mitigation.”
In comparison, the 2014-2018 Strategic Plan from President Barack Obama’s FEMA highlighted the necessity to adapt to future climate-influenced risks:
“Scientific evidence indicates that the climate is changing and significant economic, social, and environmental consequences can be expected as a result. A changing climate is already resulting in quantifiable changes to the risks communities face, showing that future risks are not the same as those faced in the past.
“State, tribal, territorial, and local demands for climate-enabled risk management information and tools are expected to rise and evolve as the need to adapt to climate change increases. The emergency management community will need to adapt appropriately to these changing risks as they strengthen their risk-management programs.”
Risk Management for the Future
Scientific evidence indicates that the climate is changing and significant economic, social, and environmental consequences can be expected as a result. A changing climate is already resulting in quantifiable changes to the risks communities face, showing that future risks are not the same as those faced in the past.
State, tribal, territorial and local demands for climate-enabled risk management information and tools are expected to rise and evolve as the need to adapt to climate change increases. The emergency management community will need to adapt appropriately to these changing risks as they strengthen their risk-management programs.
Responding to the report, FEMA Public Affairs Director William Booher told NPR, “It is evident that this strategic plan fully incorporates future risks from all hazards regardless of cause. Building upon the foundation established by FEMA’s previous two Strategic Plans, this plan commits the agency, and the nation, to taking proactive steps to increasing pre-disaster investments in preparedness and mitigation.”
Bloomberg noted that current FEMA director Brock Long, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, has skirted around the issue of man-made climate change.
“The term climate change has become such a political hot button that, I think, it keeps us from having a real dialogue,” he told the publication last summer.
Long also told CNN in September, “Regardless of what causes disasters, it’s our job within the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA to manage the consequences.”
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
