“The effects of climate change are destroying military infrastructure—Secretary Hegseth should take this threat seriously,” Warren told ICN via email. “This data shows just how costly it is for the National Guard to respond to disasters due to this threat. Inaction will only cause these costs to skyrocket.”
Neither the Defense Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
Last week, Hegseth reaffirmed his pledge to keep climate change off the military's agenda. “No more worship of climate change,” Hegseth told an audience of senior officials he gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Oct. 1. “No more divisions, distractions or gender misconceptions. No more garbage,” he said. Departing from the prepared text released by the Pentagon, he added: “As I have said before and will say again, we are done with this crap.”
But data released by the Pentagon suggests the effects of climate change are shaping the military's responsibilities, even if the department stops recognizing scientific advances or planning for a warming future. In 2024, the number of paid days on duty for the National Guard responding to natural disasters—445,306—has nearly tripled from nine years earlier, with significant fluctuations between them. (The Pentagon provided the figures in “man days,” that is, paid duty days in addition to the required annual training days for reservists.)
Demand for deploying reservists to respond to disasters during these years peaked at 1.25 million duty days in 2017, when Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria wreaked havoc in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
The largest deployment of National Guard members in response to wildfires in the past decade occurred in 2023, when wind-driven wildfires tore through Maui, killing more than 100 people. The Hawaii National Guard, called in by Gov. Josh Green, marched water drops in the air on CH-47 Chinook helicopters. On the ground, they helped escort fleeing residents, assisted in search and recovery efforts, distributed drinking water and performed other tasks.
