 |
| Typhoon Mawar's image released by National Weather Service of Guam Image Credit: Google |
A Category
4, mighty Typhoon Mawar hit Guam on 24th of May, 2023, the US territory
in the Pacific. The impacts of climate change are seen everywhere but some
places are more vulnerable and being considered as the avenues to welcome greater environmental tragedies.
The typhoon
Mawar drew attention towards an alarming fact of United States’ strategic plans
and policies. It was observed that majority of the America’s most strategic
assets are installed and deployed at places which are extremely vulnerable to
climate change. These places are threatened by;
- Extreme Weather Events
- Rising Sea Levels
- Overall consequences of climate Change
The Navy
moved the ships out to sea before the storm hit the region. This is set as the
standard procedure when bases prepare for hurricanes.
The typhoon
generated winds of 225 kilometres per hour under which the National Weather Service’s
office were “vibrating” with the waves of ocean at least 40 meters. The official
said.
The sudden
storm surge is expected to cause:
- Significant Flooding.
- Worsening the danger of residents.
- Putting the new demands on the military.
Climate Change and US military installation:
US
Department of Defense report on “Climate Impacts” revealed that repeated
flooding at Naval Base at Guam had already put US operations and activities for
the Navy Expeditionary Forces Command Pacific, submarine squardons, telecommunications,
and numerous other tasks relating to operational execution.
Guam as the Operational Base of United States:
Guam has one
of the most critical US military installations in the South Pacific.
The island
has extended US sovereignty of 125 years over 12,800 km from Washington. The island
is 3,380 from North Korean Capital Pyongyang. It is closer to Taiwan, which is
the territory US President Biden had pledged to defend against any attack.
Bruce
jones, who is Director of the Project on International Order and Strategy at
the Brooking Institution has remarked that “By virtue of having an American
territory in Guam, it gives the United States the ability to operate on home soil,
two third across the reaches of the Pacific.
Shortly,
it was termed that Guam has for decades helped protect the international order
and remained “essential operating base for US efforts to maintain a free and
open Indo-Pacific region.
The Pentagon
wrote in its 2022 quadrennial National Defense Strategy. In January, the Marine
corps opened its first new base in 70 years on the island, which was part of an
agreement to reduce U.S Military presence in Okinawa, Japan.
It was also
added further by him that it becomes hard to mobilize a military response if
your most important logistic base id under three feet of waters.
“These
kinds of events, if they’re not adequately defended against and recovered from,
really throw a spanner in the works in terms of our ability to respond to
crisis scenario in Asia.”
 |
| Image Credit: Google |
Bases already got damaged due to Climate Disasters:
The massive
damage was caused by mammoth storms including:
North Carolina’s
Camp Lejeune: it suffered a damage of $3.6 billion due to Hurricane Florence in
2018.
Florida’s
Tyndall Air Force Base: a Category 5 Hurricane Michael created a damage of $5 billion.
According
to Sherri Goodman, who serves in Wilson Centre and Centre for Climate and
Security “The challenge with planning on climate is that one cannot predict future
nor can take evidence from the past”.
She also
termed Climate Change as a military threat “multiplier”. Storms are getting
mightier, with higher winds and more rains and floods.
The Pentagon Initiatives:
The US
defense Department, commonly known as Pentagon is encouraging planner to
contemplate more seriously about climate rist in order to evade damage from its
disasters.
The Pentagon
budgeted last year about $3 million in Wargame Incentive Fund to release this
amount for five war games primarily focusing on Climate Related Crisis in South
and Central Asia.
This was
also designed to help Indo-Pacific Command that includes Guam, particularly in
identifying and adjusting potential weaknesses.
The month
in April 2023, the military opened its DOD Climate Assessment Tool which is
called as DCAT. The invention took place with allies in Europe and Asia.
The program
entails Climate Models to simulate potential changes at 23,00 DOD site
globally.
The Navy
also conducted training and exercises about the global planning mechanism and
guidance on how to build, train and fight under changing circumstances.
These
efforts have also been accelerated with fast climate impacts. The United States
President signed an executive order that built climate change formally into
national security strategy.
According to
Jones, they knew about this debate which sooner or later had to start. So, what
they have done, we will see in the aftermath.
(Courtesy:
Japantimes)
1 Comments
Can US defeat nature?
ReplyDelete