Climate-related risk to DoD infrastructure: Initial vulnerability assessment survey (SLVAS) report

This report summarises the results of a survey to assess U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) installation vulnerabilities to climate-related security risks worldwide, with the goal of identifying serious vulnerabilities and developing necessary adaptation strategies. This report also provides analysis, a look at trends and conclusions based on the results of this survey.

To identify DoD installations with vulnerabilities, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment [OASD(EI&E)], initiated a preliminary Screening Level Vulnerability Assessment Survey (SLVAS) of DoD sites worldwide. The SLVAS responses yielded a wide range of qualitative information. The highest number of reported effects resulted from drought (782) followed closely by wind (763) and non-storm surge related flooding (706). About 10% of sites indicated being affected by extreme temperatures (351), while flooding due to storm surge (225) and wildfire (210) affected about 6% of the sites reporting. Nearly 50% of sites (1,684) reported they had no effects to any assets from the effects.