A scientific organization is predicting increasing heat index readings over the next three decades could adversely impact military training. The study comes from the Union of Concerned Scientists. It’s described as a national non-profit organization founded 50 years ago by scientists and students at MIT.
Study Co-Author Kristi Dahl said the heat index at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee line exceeds 100 degrees about two and a half weeks ayear. “When we look to the future, if we take no action to reduce our heat trapping emissions of things like carbon dioxide, that would rise to about two months per year of a heat index above 100,” noted Dahl.
Dahl says the Union of Concerned Scientists works with a network of some 20,000 scientists across the U.S.
She said the impact for military recruits is different than that expected for farmers or construction workers for instance. “But, potentially none of those have the severe consequences that reduced training of members of the military would have for our country. We need to ensure that our troops are prepared for any kind of situation,” said Dahl.
Repeated efforts to contact a representative at Fort Campbell proved unsuccessful. Dahl said the Army was not involved in the study.
