Rising heat means rising stakes for national security

By Bella Kubach, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

As we prepare to honor the brave men and women who protect our nation this Memorial Day, we must also confront how the intensifying summer heat may hinder their ability to do so. 

Last year, NASA named the summer of 2024 to be Earth’s hottest summer ever recorded, and experts suggest this summer might follow as a close second with at least 18 days seeing temperatures exceeding 90 degrees.  

Florida, already known for its sweltering humidity, saw dangerous heat waves last summer that strained infrastructure, public health systems and military installations. 

With this year shaping up to be no different, we must take action to keep those on the frontlines safe. 

The Sunshine State is home to 24 active military installations and more than 60,000 active personnel, having the sixth-most members in active duty in the country.  

Our Department of Defense needs Florida to remain a place where troops can train, operate and be mission-ready, not one where extreme heat can put their safety, performance or equipment at risk.  

From 2008 to 2018, the military experienced at least 17 deaths linked to heat exposure, and 720 cases of heat-related illnesses among service members in July 2023 alone. As a result, military training installations have had to adapt their training schedules to avoid the hottest times of day to mitigate the health risks associated with extreme heat.  

But the warming weather doesn’t only put the health of active personnel at risk, it threatens their infrastructure and equipment as hotter temperatures contribute to sea level rise and more extreme weather events. 

There are 128 U.S. military bases and installations at increasing threat of a three-foot sea level rise, potentially arriving by the end of the century. Norfolk – the largest naval base in the world located in Portsmouth, Virginia – already floods 10 times a year because of elevated sea levels. 

Hurricane Isabel alone caused $166 million in flood damage at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, in 2003. 

Unfortunately, these are just a few of the side effects of climate change, and we’re likely to see more impacts while we continue to burn heat-trapping fossil fuels and global warming intensifies. Meanwhile, the new administration is actively undermining climate science. 

Climate change doesn’t adhere to politics and scientists have made it clear: An overheating climate is driving more frequent and severe weather events, leaving the U.S. military to feel the strain. Troops are being increasingly tasked with responding to climate-related disasters, pulling resources from traditional defense operations. 

According to the Department of Defense, “responding to climate crises is a manpower drain.” The number of personnel days the National Guard spent on firefighting increased from 14,000 in 2016 to 176,000 in 2021, which led to a major redirection of time, attention and resources. 

The facts prove that these climate-related threats aren’t abstract risks. They directly undermine our military readiness and climate change is directly impacting our armed troops’ ability to keep us safe.

This Memorial Day, we must look to a future where we protect those who protect us. Leaders across the political spectrum must treat climate resilience as a core pillar of policy, or our national preparedness will suffer. 

Bella Kubach is a communications intern for Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonprofit, grassroots climate advocacy organization, and is currently studying for a master of arts in global sustainability at the University of South Florida. Banner photo: U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons sit on the flightline before morning training flights at Naval Air Station Key West in 2022 (Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Kregg York via Defense Visual Information Distribution Service).

Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here. To support The Invading Sea, click here to make a donation. If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu.