5.4 Climate Adaptation ( CA )
Climate adaptation is attempting to mitigate the potential impacts caused by climate change , which is the gradual shift of global weather patterns and temperature resulting from natural factors and human activities ( e . g . burning of fossil fuels ) that produce long‐term impacts on atmospheric conditions . The effects of climate change vary and may include fluctuations in sea levels , alterations of ecosystems , variations in weather patterns , and natural resource availability issues . The results of climate change , i . e . ozone depletion and inefficiencies in land use , can present operational and planning challenges for the military and communities as resources are depleted and environments altered .
ISSUE CA‐1
Long‐Term Sea Level Rise Impact at Dare County Range Sea level rise potential may impact long‐term operational capability of current facilities and weapon systems / platforms at the Dare County Range if strategic land use planning strategies and / or weapon / target system planning strategies are not implemented
Compatibility Assessment Coastal North Carolina has been identified as one of the most vulnerable regions in the US to climate change . The region contains land characterized by very low land slope which is subject to the major shoreline recession and erosion associated with sea level rise . Shoreline erosion data for the mainland Dare County peninsula indicates the loss of shoreline at Point Peter Road in Alligator River NWR from 1969 to 1998 . During this period , the site at Point Peter Road experienced an average loss of 7.5 feet of shoreline per year . Sea level rise could also result in additional saltwater intrusion at Dare
County Range through the peninsula ’ s ditches an the natural hydrology . The location of the DCR o the Albemarle Sound , Alligator River , and Pamlic vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise .
Sources : US Fish and Wildlife Service Estuarine Shoreline Drowning the North Carolina Coast : Sea‐Level Rise and E 2003 , Stanley Riggs and Dorothea Ames ( https :// www . f es / pubs / riggs _ ames / report . html ); Sea Level Rise Risk As Installations ( http :// www . dodworkshops . org / files / ClimateChange / Fa ssessment _ for _ DoD _ Coastal _ Installations . pdf
Although sea level rise will create new land use p impossible to extend the longevity of the basic m Fiscal constraints , engineering ingenuity , and po the drivers that will come into play . It is possible targets may need to be relocated and / or raised , platform technology advanced to ensure the SJA effectively .
A DOD Legacy Resource Management Program P by Alion Science and Technology , is a four‐page , ( completed in 2008 / 2009 ) that summarizes sea DOD installations along coastal North Carolina . A under a “ moderate ” sea level simulation of 0.7 m North Carolina coastal areas facing the greatest
The 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate C to 1.4 feet rise in sea level by 2100 . The Legacy that under the IPCC sea level rise scenario , all Ai training operations will be halted by 2100 and m by 2050 . Figure 5.4‐1 illustrates the potential in likely to experience .
Background Report