By Ethan Wong

One year since the launch of the Military Responses to Climate Hazards Tracker (MiRCH), the Center for Climate and Security is excited to announce an updated version of the MiRCH interface. The new dashboard maintains key characteristics of the previous tracker, such as the interactive map and data visualizations, but adds new features that provide quicker access to information and allow for greater analysis:

• Filtering: The new interface enables users to filter the MiRCH data by specific actor countries, location countries, types of climate hazard, military service branch, and time periods. The filters automatically update the interactive map, indicators, and graphs. The charts and graphs can also be used to filter the data.
• Indicators: The MiRCH now highlights key figures, including the number of military responses, the number of actor countries, and the number of location countries displayed, based on the selected filters.
• International Deployments: The dashboard has a new tab for information on international military responses to climate hazards, where an actor country deploys to assist a different country. The tab displays key figures about the international deployments, the number of international responses by country, and provides a list of the deployments.

Explore these new features on the new MiRCH tracker and refer to the User Guide in the dashboard’s menu for more information (the menu icon is located in the top right of the dashboard). 

May and June 2024 Update

In May and June 2024, the Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) identified 35 military responses to climate change-related hazards in 12 countries, including wildfires, floods, storms, extreme heat, and landslides.

In Papua New Guinea, a massive landslide struck a village in the remote Enga Province on May 24, prompting domestic and international military responses. Earth-moving equipment from Papua New Guinea’s military assisted with rescue efforts, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force delivered relief supplies, technical assistance, and humanitarian aid following the disaster. The United Nations estimates that the landslide has killed 670 people, but due to poor census data, the death toll remains uncertain and could be as high as 2,000, according to the Papua New Guinea government. Officials from the Papua New Guinea government have stated that recent extreme rainfall and changing weather patterns across the region contributed to the landslide.

Elsewhere, the air forces of several other countries deployed abroad in response to climate hazards. Aircraft from the Qatar Emiri Air Force delivered several batches of aid to flood-affected areas of Afghanistan in May and to drought-stricken communities in Namibia in June. Additionally, the Indian Air Force provided humanitarian aid to Kenya in May after extreme rains caused severe flooding across the country that killed over 200 and displaced more than 200,000 people. These deployments illustrate the strong demand for international assistance as climate change continues to amplify extreme weather events.

In the United States, the National Guard deployed14 times in the last two months in response to climate hazards. In May, the National Guard was deployed in Nebraska, Kentucky, and Arkansas to assist with recovery efforts after severe storms hit the states. Meanwhile, following intense rainfall in May that triggered flooding and landslides, the Governors of Puerto Rico and Florida also activated their National Guards to help with emergency response. Severe storms and flooding continued to affect the Midwest in June, prompting the deployment of the Iowa and Minnesota National Guards to support rescue efforts. 

Moreover, the National Guard was called to respond to climate hazards beyond storms and flooding, with the Governor of New York activating the National Guard to assist with heat-related emergencies and the New Mexico National Guard deploying for firefighting operations against the South Fork Fire and Salt Fire, both on June 18. The New Mexico Army National Guard was also deployed in June to distribute drinking water in Las Vegas, NM, after major flooding brought ash and debris from the 2022 wildfire burn scar, compromising local drinking water. These incidents highlight the range and intensity of climate hazards that the United States increasingly faces, and June 2024 was the second highest month of National Guard deployments recorded in MiRCH.

To see the full MiRCH tracker with new updates for May and June, click here.