When a giant heat dome hovered over the U.S. Southwest last summer, temperatures in Phoenix topped 110 degrees for fifty-five consecutive days. It was often too hot at the nearby Luke Air Force Base (AFB) for airmen to conduct training exercises. As the planet heats up, there’s more where that came from: this summer saw the hottest day ever recorded. 

Accelerating climate risks are also accelerating our global security risks. From new sea lanes in the Arctic, to prolonged drought across parts of Africa and the Middle East, to extreme storms bringing unprecedented flooding, these mounting climate risks could destabilize our security.   

The global impacts of climate change, and the failure of current diplomatic approaches to reduce emissions, mean that time is of the essence to move beyond polarized politics to practical planning for a more resilient future.  

The U.S. military is quietly taking the lead in preparing our forces to operate in a climate-changed world. At all levels of the armed forces, military leaders are adapting bases and operations for a world of hotter temperatures, rising seas, and searing wildfires. They are confronting the global security challenges of a hotter planet, and reducing the armed forces’ dependence on climate-changing fossil fuels. 

Military leaders are not taking these steps because of some abstract concern for the environment. They are doing so because climate change makes it harder to do their job: keeping Americans safe. America’s military must be ready 24/7 to respond to any threat, from an Iranian attack on troops in the Middle East to wildfires and floods here at home. And, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin observed, the climate crisis is now an existential threat that no nation can ignore. 

Climate change poses myriad challenges to military personnel and operations. Like the airmen at Luke AFB, troops at military bases worldwide face a growing number of heat-risk days that imperil their health and readiness. Extreme heat can make it too hot to fly planes and helicopters, making rescue missions impossible. 

In Norfolk, Virginia, sea level rise and powerful storms have brought devastating, costly floods to the largest complex of U.S. military installations. And as wildfires burn year-round, America’s National Guard now spends ten times more personnel days fighting fires than it did just five years ago. 

More broadly, climate change is a threat multiplier, a phrase I coined in 2007 for the first group of generals and admirals to examine climate security risks, that amplifies global security challenges. Climate crises make every fragile state more vulnerable and every conflict more dangerous.   

The U.S. military is actively responding to climate threats at home and abroad. After Hurricane Michael ripped the roofs off hangers for the F35 fighter at Florida’s Tyndall AFB in 2018, the Air Force launched an effort to rebuild Tyndall as a climate-resilient Installation of the Future. All branches of the military use sophisticated modeling to incorporate climate change into strategy and planning. Importantly, the military has embraced clean, renewable energy, saving money and lives while slowing the advance of climate change. 

Military leaders understand that climate readiness is mission readiness. Decisionmakers of all kinds – should do the same. Whatever your “mission,” it will be impacted by a changing climate.  

The threat multiplier of climate change can be a springboard to the opportunity multiplier of a more resilient future. Like the military, we must take a clear-eyed view of the threats, and respond with pragmatic action. Only then can we keep all Americans safe in a hotter, more dangerous world. 

About the Author: 

Sherri Goodman has been a leader in environmental, energy, and climate security since she served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). Today, she is Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center. She is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape this field. Her new book is Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security. 

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