Depopulating Military Installations Because of Sea Level Rise

Jul 6, 2020 | Marc Kodack
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In case you missed it, an audit of the U.S. Department of Defense’s installation climate resilience from last year, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, found that “installations have not consistently assessed risks from extreme weather and climate change effects or consistently used projections to anticipate future climate conditions.” One of those conditions is sea level rise that will affect multiple coastal installations (see here and here). Sea level rise will not only affect the physical infrastructure on these installations, it will also potentially lead to the inland migration of portions of the populations who live in the surrounding communities – some of whom form part of an installation’s work force. Depending on how far away and how many  migrants move, their loss will degrade an installation’s ability to continue to function at an acceptable level over time.

Migration is an adaptive response to climate change. It is characterized by people leaving an area, people arriving/resettling in another area, usually nearby, and the flow between the two. Thus, climate-induced sea level rise not only affects coastal zones and populations, but also the resident populations of inland areas and populations on the move.