Army Climate Resilience Handbook published in August 2020.

U.S. Army Installation Climate Resilience Initiatives

By Mr. J.E. “Jack” Surash and Dr. Stephen Dornbos

The Army considers changing climate and extreme weather events to be threats to its installation infrastructure. Installation climate resilience measures must be employed to protect facility assets that support critical missions and help generate readiness. Recent Army efforts to enhance installation climate resilience include development of the web-based Army Climate Assessment Tool (ACAT), publication of the Army Climate Resilience Handbook (ACRH), and issuance of Army Directive 2020-08 addressing climate and extreme weather threats to installations. The web-based ACAT helps installation leaders understand and prepare for the projected impacts of coastal and riverine flooding, drought, desertification, wildfire, thawing permafrost, and extreme heat, among other factors. The ACAT was launched in July 2020 with data on all major Army installations in the United States. Data on overseas Army installations will be added as well. The Army published the ACRH in August 2020 as a companion to the ACAT. This handbook supports field staff in their evaluation of the impacts of changing climate and extreme weather on installations, in order to plan and implement effective and efficient resilience measures. Army Directive 2020-08 provides policy guidance to installation commanders to plan for and adapt to the projected impacts of climate and extreme weather threats by adding the results of projection analysis tools, such as the ACAT, into all facility and infrastructure-related plans, policies, and procedures. The Secretary of the Army signed this directive in September 2020.

About the Authors
Mr. J.E. “Jack” Surash, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy & Sustainability,
john.e.surash.civ@mail.mil. Dr. Stephen Dornbos, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow, Climate and Water Resilience Specialist, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, stephen.q.dornbos.ctr@mail.mil.

LEARN MORE
For more information on these initiatives, contact Dr. Dornbos at stephen.q.dornbos.ctr@mail.mil The ACRH can be downloaded at https://www.asaie.army.mil/Public/ES/doc/Army_Climate_Resilience_Handbook_Change_1.pdf