Water mismanagement floods nuclear sites---extinction.

Climate change and nuclear weapons, two existential threats to humanity, work to exacerbate each other’s detrimental effects. Though the two topics may seem distantly related at first glance, they share many connections. Where climate change is likely to amplify the scarcity of resources, nuclear weapons facilities compound these effects by harming natural resources, increasing the risk of conflict, Accord reports. Moreover, since climate change is a threat multiplier, its negative impacts can lead to the risk of escalation during a conflict between nuclear-armed states. Therefore, acting on each of these issues can mitigate the threat of both.

Food and water security are among the many issues relevant to both climate change and nuclear weapons. Food and water shortages are consequences of climate change that are further multiplied by nuclear waste, which can contaminate food and water sources. While the effects of nuclear weapons add to those of climate change, the reverse is visible, too. Climate change-driven extreme weather events, varying from floods to wildfires, are already risking damage to nuclear weapons sites. Matt Korda, a research associate for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, warns of the danger. He informs that “nuclear warheads and their delivery systems are relatively delicate: stored warheads need to be cooled, missile silos need to be kept clean and dry, runways can’t be underwater, and shipyards can’t be flooded,” according to Forbes. A report from the Department of Defense in 2019 highlighted over 70 military facilities, with seven that store up to 6,000 nuclear warheads, that are threatened by climate disasters, Forbes adds.

Evidence of a connection between nuclear sites and climate change can be seen in the case of the Camp Century military base. In the late 1950s to 1960s, the U.S. established Camp Century in Thule, Greenland. Though it supposedly conducted military research, the base was set up for Project Iceworm, a program launched to build a tunnel system of nuclear-armed “Iceman” medium-range ballistic missiles with an easy route to the Soviet Union, according to TIME. According to a case study conducted by Dr. Jeff D. Colgan, an associate professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs at Brown University, the missiles would have been in constant movement in the underground railway tracks within the tunnels. This would have rendered it difficult for the Soviets to identify their location and optimize second-strike capability for the U.S. However, Project Iceworm quickly shut down before it became operational, partly due to the slow but present movement of the Greenland Ice Sheet. This ice movement, which was faster than expected, would have shifted the tunnels and ceilings of the facility, disrupting operations.

Today, more than half a century after the project shut down, climate change is not only unearthing the secret military operation of the Cold War era, but also the toxic waste stored at the site. Dr. Colgan’s case study revealed the release of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as the primary environmental concern along with low-radioactive waste in the region. These pollutants can remobilize, accumulate in marine ecosystems, and rise along the food chain. This issue is also present in similar nuclear sites such as those in the Ulithi atoll in Micronesia where rising sea levels are driven by climate change is increasing the threat of radioactive waste reaching the ocean, Dr. Colgan’s case study adds.