Society is accustomed to delays in airline travel resulting from snow, rain or fog, but is less prepared for the significant investment required to adapt transportation infrastructure to climate change. Another economic cost involves the retrofitting of infrastructure to adapt it to the new climate, including more resilient or relocated transportation facilities in areas subject to tropical cyclones, bridges and trestles with higher clearances to address flooding and sea-level rise, and heat-resistant highway and rail design.įigure 1 - Kansas City downtown airport, Interstate Highway 70 and the Kansas City Port: a broad mix of transport optionsĬhanges in the weather require adjustments to daily operation of transportation systems, while climate change requires adjustments to transportation infrastructure. Stronger tropical cyclones inundate and damage transportation infrastructure, resulting in delayed delivery of goods and services.Īdverse impacts to transit time, delivery reliability and efficiency in turn affect the cost of all goods transported by these systems.

Higher temperatures buckle railroad tracks and roadways.

Rising sea level and more intense flooding affect the safety and functionality of bridges and trestles. Railways, ports, piers, highway culverts, bridges and other transportation infrastructure have been optimized for the expected range of weather conditions that we call “climate.” When the weather becomes more extreme-more outside the bounds of what is considered “normal” climate-the transportation infrastructure becomes less reliable and less safe. Daily operational decisions in the transport sector, such as the amount of cargo that a plane or a barge can safely handle, must take weather conditions into consideration.Ĭlimate, on the other hand, affects transportation infrastructure. Weather affects the operation of the transportation systems that we all rely on-from automobiles slowed by a wet surface, to delivery trucks delayed by high winds, to passenger trains stalled by ice and snow. By Marjorie McGuirk 1, Scott Shuford 2, Thomas C.

How to draw simple 1920 airplanes