US military cancels climate change studies that Pentagon chief calls 'crap'

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is canceling more than 90 studies, including some that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed as climate change "crap."

Military and intelligence officials have over the past decade identified potential security threats from climate change that include natural disasters in densely populated coastal areas and damage to American military bases worldwide.

"The (Department of Defense) does not do climate change crap," Hegseth posted on X on Sunday. Hegseth took office in President Donald Trump's new administration on January 25.

An official Pentagon account then reposted a screenshot of a story quoting Hegseth using the word and added: "Fact check true."

The Pentagon said in a separate statement that it would be scrapping 91 social science-related studies on topics ranging from global migration patterns and climate change impact to social trends and would save $30 million in a year.

It listed as canceled studies including "Social and Institutional Determinants of Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Hazards in the African Sahel" and "Food Fights: War Narratives and Identity Reproduction in Evolving Conflicts."

A Pentagon study in 2018 found that nearly half of all U.S. military sites were threatened by weather linked to climate change.

During the previous administration, led by President Joe Biden, the Pentagon had said it would include the risk of climate change in military simulations and war games. Trump has taken a different stand.

Last week, his administration withdrew from the board of the U.N.'s climate damage fund dedicated to helping poor and vulnerable countries cope with climate change-fueled disasters. The withdrawal is one of many steps taken by Trump's administration to pull back from multilateral initiatives.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Howard Goller)