Climate toll on Arctic bases: Sunken runways, damaged roads

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s inspector general’s office says U.S. military bases in the Arctic and sub-Arctic are failing to prepare their installations for future climate change as required. That’s even though soaring temperatures and melting ice already are cracking base runways and roads and worsening flood risks up north. Friday’s report came from the inspector general of the Department of Defense. It provides a rare bit of public stock-taking of the military’s state of readiness – or lack of readiness – for the worsening weather of a warming Earth. The U.S. military long has formally recognized climate change as a threat to national security. The Pentagon says in response to the report that it is working to better incorporate long-term climate readiness at military bases.