By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES Published: April 22, 2021 The Defense Department announced Thursday it would complete assessments of climate-related hazards to all major installations in the continental United States within 12 months. It set a goal of completing similar assessments at all major installations outside the U.S. within two years, the Pentagon said in a news release. The announcement dovetailed with President Joe Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate on Thursday, a virtual gathering during which he pledged America would cut emissions by at least half of 2005 levels by 2030. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has brought a new sense of urgency to addressing climate change as a national and global security issue.