At a Glance

Congress asked the military to conduct a survey of military installations during the Obama administration.The completed report was presented to Congress last week.The survey found that 50 percent of the 3,500 U.S. military installations worldwide suffered some impacts of human-induced climate change.

At least half of all U.S. military installations worldwide have experienced the effects of climate change, including floods, droughts, wildfires, as well as other weather extremes, anew U.S. Department of Defense report says.

Per congressional mandate, the Defense Department looked at the climate risks to all 3,500 U.S. military sites worldwide. According to the,nearly 800 ofthose had been affected by droughts, more than 750 by wind, 225 by storm surge-related flooding,350 by extreme temperatures and more than 200 by wildfires.

The report, conducted under the Obama administration and prepared by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technologyand Logistics, noted that the military "looks at climate through the lens of its mission" and pointed out that"changes in climate affect national security in several ways."

"Our warfighters require bases from which to deploy, on which to train,or to live when they are not deployed," the report says. "If extreme weather makes our critical facilities unusable or necessitates costly or manpower-intensive workarounds, that is an unacceptable impact."

While many facilities suffered relatively minor inconveniences, several instances of weather-related issues were severe enoughto "cripple the operational mission of a base," includingthe HomesteadAir Reserve Base in Florida, crippled after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and Langley Air Forces Base in Virginia, struck by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. The storm cost the U.S. Navy nearly $130 million in damages in the Mid-Atlantic region.

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Floodwaters from storm surge caused by hurricane Isabel fills a corridor between Chauvenet and Michelson Halls, the heart of the U.S. Naval Academy’s physics, chemistry, math and computer science programs. The academy suffered extensive flooding and wind damage throughout the campus. Hurricane Isabel, which cost the Navy nearly 0 million in damage in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., made landfall as a category 2 storm near Cape Hatteras, N.C., approximately 100 miles south of Norfolk, Va.

(U.S. Navy )

Other notable facilities that have experienced climate-related issues includethe U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, which has repeatedly been subject to hurricane damage and storm surge, as well asthe U.S. Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, both threatened repeatedly by wildfires.

The report is in stark contrast to the Trump's administration's continued refusal to acknowledge human-caused climate change. Most on the EnvironmentalProtection Agency's website, as well as on the websites of other federal agencies.

Military leaders, on the other hand, continue to address the threat posed by human-induced climate change.

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During his congressional confirmation hearing, Trump's pick to lead the military, James Mattis, in areas of the world where our troops are operating today."

"The effects of a changing climate — such as increased maritime access to the Arctic, rising sea levels, desertification, among others — impact our security situation," Mattis said.

The Defense dDpartment is now required to prepare a new report for Congress in the coming months outlying which military installations are most vulnerable to “rising sea tides, increased flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires and thawing permafrost.”