Climate Change Is Damaging Troop Readiness, Pentagon Official Says
- Deputy secretary cites effects from days flying to sea level
- Planes may have less time to ‘loiter in the air,’ she says
NATO paratroopers drop out of a U.S. Air Force Hercules during a joint military exercise at Bezmer airfield near the village of Bezmer, Bulgaria in 2017.
Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Climate change is already affecting the combat readiness of the U.S. military and providing opportunities for China to exploit, the Pentagon’s No. 2 official said on Friday.
“Climate change and extreme weather events caused by climate change affect everything from the number of days we can be flying in the air and training” to the ability to use military installations as sea levels rise or drought sets in, Kathleen Hicks, the deputy defense secretary, said in an interview with host Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg Radio’s “Sound On” program.