Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis April 25, 2018, The Washington Post The military paid for a study on sea level rise. The results were scary Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis April 25, 2018, The Washington Post

This study is a look at the future. The U. S This study is a look at the future. The U.S. military paid for it to be conducted because they have so many important facilities on islands in the Pacific, some of which are only six feet or so above current sea level. The most pressing danger is that temporary floods can pollute the supply of fresh water with sea water. The following excerpts are from a credible Washington Post article about the study. It is actually much more clear than the report in a scientific journal because they focus on the policy choices. For example, the military is currently planning to put facilities that track space junk because knowledge of where it is is critical to keeping satellites and astronauts safe. The question for the class will be would you move them now?

More than a thousand low-lying tropical islands risk becoming “uninhabitable” by the middle of the century — or possibly sooner — because of rising sea levels, upending the populations of some island nations and endangering key U.S. military assets, according to new research published Wednesday. The threats to the islands are twofold. In the long term, the rising seas threaten to inundate the islands entirely. More immediately, as seas rise, the islands will more frequently deal with large waves that crash farther onto the shore, contaminating their drinkable water supplies with ocean saltwater, according to the research.

The research also has ramifications for the U. S The research also has ramifications for the U.S. military, whose massive Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site sits, in part, on the atoll island of Roi-Namur — a part of the Marshall Islands and the focus of the research. The U.S. military supported the research in part to learn about the vulnerability of its tropical-island installations. The Pentagon base on Roi-Namur and surrounding islands supports about 1,250 American civilians, contractors and military personnel.

“This study provided a better understanding of how atoll islands may be affected by a changing climate,” Defense Department spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement. “While no decisions have been made about Department of Defense activities on the islands based on the study, DOD continues to focus on ensuring its installations and infrastructure are resilient to a wide range of threats. The department’s understanding of rising sea levels will enable the military services and agencies in affected areas to make informed decisions on how to continue to execute their missions.”

The low-lying island, which rises barely six feet above the current sea level, is part of the vast Kwajalein coral atoll, a structure that formed as coral reefs grew around a sinking volcanic island long ago. That is the origin of more than a thousand other low-lying, ring- shaped atoll islands or atoll island chains across the Pacific and Indian oceans. Most are not populated, but some, such as the Marshall Islands and Maldives, are home to tens or even hundreds of thousands.

While seas are rising by 3 While seas are rising by 3.2 millimeters per year at the moment and expected to rise even faster in years ahead, Roi-Namur has a good chance of avoiding total inundation this century. Would you vote to move the facility now? Yes No. (this is a binary choice based on current knowledge)