Climate security

U.S. Air Force bases caught off guard by climate change

As rising temperatures fuel increasingly disastrous storms, extensive fixes like these could become a regular problem. NOAA’s 2019 spring outlook, published last month shortly after the floods, predicted weeks of extended flooding in the Midwest like those that hit Offutt. Overwhelming evidence shows that precipitation is getting heavier and flooding risk is going up as a result, while recent research is also showing that climate change is directly contributing to the hurricane intensity. Last month, the Pentagon sent Congress a list of military bases most at risk from climate change, but the list included neither Tyndall or Offutt.

Facing high costs from extreme weather, the military has shown a willingness to break from the White House on climate change, acknowledging that more severe weather poses a real threat. The Air Force said in February it will rebuild Tyndall as “the base of the future,” with plans to make it resistant to storm surges and high-speed winds.

“Resilience is something that’s a Department priority, and I think it’s something Congress would like [the DoD] to prioritize,” Conger said. “You have to expect that you’re going to get damaging storms more often, so it’s in our interest to get our bases ready.”