The Department of Defense (DoD) faces a climate change crisis now recognized as an immediate national security priority. Because climate change has a potentially devastating impact on built and natural infrastructure required to carry out DoD’s mission, improving installation climate resilience is a DoD priority.

The DoD mission relies on its built infrastructure to house operations, provide critical systems support, access to base and installations, and a wide range of other functions housed in specialized facilities, including everything from arsenals to airplane hangars. It is easy to understand the impact climate change could have on this built infrastructure because the devastation of buildings and other physical structures is clearly visible after extreme weather events driven by climate change.

The impacts of climate change on DoD’s natural infrastructure are equally concerning. DoD’s ranges are among its most critical assets. The dedicated range complexes provide the essential foundation for troops to train in realistic conditions at appropriate scales. Live-fire training, maneuver exercises, and myriad other training activities provide hands-on experience critical to supporting national security objectives and to ensuring a high state of military readiness. SERDP and ESTCP programs are developing and demonstrating solutions to reduce the impacts of climate change on military installations and the natural and physical infrastructure that support critical DoD missions.

Subtopics:
Energy Efficiency

Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings can reduce operating costs, improve occupant comfort and productivity, reduce GHG emissions and make our installations more resilient to the effects of climate change. Below is a list of subtopics with additional information. Learn More...

Energy Resilience

In line with DoD’s energy strategy, ESTCP is supporting the advancement of energy resilience technologies, such as microgrids, energy storage, and on-site distributed generation. Learn More...

Control Systems Cybersecurity

As facilities incorporate more networked devices to improve efficiency and increase capability, threat and vulnerability to cyber-attacks has also increased. Improved cybersecurity technology and processes are critical in order to realize the benefits of new advanced technologies and to protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber-threats. Learn More...

Water

The provision of clean and reliable water supply is critical to enabling operations on military installations. SERDP and ESTCP are developing and demonstrating technologies that improve water security, reduce waste and ensure sufficient quantity and quality of water to support DoD missions. Learn More...

Infrastructure

The installation infrastructure resiliency research is centered on technologies that allow for resilience in the face of a changing climate. This research will ultimately provide the DoD with technologies that allow for adaptation to changing conditions and improvement of infrastructure and range resiliency. Learn More...

Range Sustainability

To ensure military installations have the tools required to maintain the lands in a condition sufficient for efficient and effective training, the range-sustainability research area focuses on improving natural resource management by addressing erosion and water quality, dust generation, and fire management on the land. Learn More...

Threatened & Endangered Species and Invasive Species

DoD readiness rests on a foundation of open and available training, the health of which depends on a readiness-ecosystem nexus that supports both the training environment and natural environment in balanced co-existence. Learn More...

Wildland Fires

Through the current suite of SERDP and ESTCP research projects, the DoD has also become a recognized leader in co-production of management-relevant science between fire managers and researchers with a focus on next-generation fire behavior and smoke dispersion models. Learn More...